


A World Between Us

by TheWhiteOwl



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-10-10
Packaged: 2018-10-14 02:43:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 51,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10527171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheWhiteOwl/pseuds/TheWhiteOwl
Summary: This is not a fairy tale. It's full of sadness, desperation and fear. It's about a world where people can't live in peace, where children born with diseases are torn from their families, where people with disabilities have to die, where people are forced to 'recovery' camps and if they are lucky, they have a chance to get out of that hell – once they prove that they are cured.Blaine Anderson is a strong man, a true survival and destroyer of the recovery camps who was forced behind those gates by his own parents. Kurt Hummel is just a shy boy from Lima whose father wasn't enough to protect him from the world's cruelty. Even in that hell, they manage to fall in love, and with the help of a few trustworthy people, they start a war against the government to stop them for once and for all.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Everyone!  
> This is my newest story, I hope you like it.  
> It's not a pretty one. It's full of sadness, fear and violence, but also hope and love. Where people believe that everything is possible if they are brave enough to change. This is a story of two boys who fall in love in the most unwanted place and are ready to fight for their rights until their last breaths.  
> Enjoy!

Blaine usually hated rainy days. When it was cold and dark outside and everything seemed so sad. Not this time, though. Those dark clouds fitted his mood perfectly. He knew he should have spent his last day home with something useful. Going through his belongings, saying goodbye to people who were important for him, everything he wanted to be done before he left, knowing that he wouldn't come back anytime soon. If ever… 

His parents were pretty sure that Blaine would be back home soon, once he was 'cured' from his non-existent illness. Being gay, that was why he was forced to leave and locked up in hell until he changed. He knew that it wouldn't happen. He had seen people coming back from that camp, acting like they were healed, ready to live their lives like they were supposed to. But Blaine also knew the truth, that it was all fake, the only way to escape that horrible place. At least people like him had a chance to survive. Not everyone was that lucky. He had heard too many stories from his father to know what was going on in those camps. Children born with different diseases, people injured in accidents, they were all meant to die. That was how their world worked.

When Blaine had heard about the camps a few years earlier, he believed that it was just a bad joke. Locking up people in camps, forcing them to change had seemed unbelievable. This couldn't happen in the 21th century, right? But as time had passed and people had started to disappear from Blaine's school and neighbourhood, he realized how real it was. And now here he was, ready to leave the place where he had grown up, ready to enter those gates and go through his own hell.

Was he ready? No, not at all. He didn't believe that people should be changed at all or killed for being different. Unfortunately, his parents did. Once they had found out about Blaine's 'sickness', his father had reported it immediately. Blaine was quite disappointed. Although he knew that he didn't mean much for his parents, he had believed that they loved him enough not to send him to that camp. But he had been wrong. Two days later, here he was, waiting for the black car to take him. 

"You will be back in no time" his mother said reassuringly.

But she was wrong. Blaine knew that he couldn't be changed, he couldn't be cured because he wasn't sick. He was just a regular boy who loved boys, there was nothing wrong in it. Too bad his parents couldn't understand that.

Somebody shouted downstairs and Blaine heard something shatter. He didn't care. It didn't matter anymore.

"Cooper, you have to understand…"

"This is crazy, mother!"

Blaine smiled sadly. He and Cooper had never been good brothers, thanks to the huge age gap between them, but his brother was surprisingly protective over him since he had learnt the news from their parents. He had gotten home from LA that day and since he had arrived, he tried to change their father's mind. Unfortunately, John Anderson was a stubborn man. Cooper could threaten him, yell at him, destroy the whole house, their father would never change his mind.

"This is the best for him" Blaine heard his mother.

"Are you out of your mind? You know exactly what happens in those camps" Cooper shouted.

Of course they did. But they didn't care.

Blaine sighed and turned back to the window. He didn't know how those camps looked like from the inside. Maybe he would be locked up in a small, dark room for the rest of his life. Maybe he wouldn't see the sunlight or the rain anymore. He wanted to enjoy these remaining moments of his free life as long as he could.

"Blaine?"

Blaine pressed his eyes closed as his mother stepped inside. 

"It's time?" he asked quietly.

"You know we only want the best for you" his mother said.

"No, mother" Blaine said. "You can't deal with the shame that your son is a fag. You don't care about me at all. You would be happy if I died in that camp."

"Don't say that!" his mother hissed. "We love you. We want you to heal."

"Let me tell you something, mother" Blaine said as he stepped close to his mom. "I'm not sick. I'm not a freak. I'm not any worse than you just because I love boys."

"You are a boy, Blaine" his mother said gently. "You are supposed to love girls."

Blaine shook his head. This was pointless. He grabbed his bag from the bed and walked to the door.

"Don't you give me a hug before you leave?" his mother asked.

"No" Blaine said shortly. She didn't deserve one.

He walked downstairs where Cooper was still fighting with their father. Blaine shook his head as he watched them. Cooper was usually the good kid, he never said no to their dad but now he looked like he was ready to punch the other man. Blaine stepped to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm leaving, Cooper" Blaine said gently.

"No, you aren't" Cooper said. "I will find a solution. I will take you with me, I will help you leave the states…"

"Coop, it's okay" Blaine whispered. "I don't want you to get involved. You know what they do to people hiding my kind."

"Your kind" Cooper repeated, shaking his head. They agreed in one thing: locking people up for being different was a completely crazy idea. It didn't mean they could change anything.

"Take care of yourself" Blaine said as he pulled his brother into a hug.

"Blaine, don't go" Cooper said.

"I don't have a choice" Blaine said as he pulled away, glancing at his father. John had had a chance to save his son from this but he hadn't done anything. "Bye, Coop."

Cooper didn't leave his side until Blaine stepped through the front door, completely ignoring his father. Just like his mother, he didn't deserve a goodbye.

Cooper tried to pull him back one more time but there were two men standing outside, already waiting for Blaine. The boy glanced at the car behind him, unable to suppress a snort of disgust. The black car he had heard about so many times.

"Blaine Anderson?" one man asked.

"That's me" Blaine said.

"Get in the car" the other man said. 

Blaine glanced at the gun hidden under his jacket, not that it was hidden too well. He didn't expect anything else, these guys were here to take him to his prison, just like a criminal. He nodded and hastily walked to the car. Although he was pretty sure that he wouldn't let these people 'cure' him, he didn't want to die either. 

"Blaine!" Cooper called after him.

Blaine turned back before he could get onto the backseat of the car.

"I will bring you home" Cooper said.

Blaine smiled sadly.

"No, you won't" he said. "Not until you make them change the laws. Because I won't let them turn me into a puppet."

Cooper sighed sadly. It wasn't like he didn't agree with Blaine but saying such things in front of these guys… it was clearly dangerous.

"I will get you out of there" Cooper promised him before Blaine disappeared in the car. "I swear, Blaine. Whatever I need to do, I will free you from that place. Just hold on, little brother."

Blaine nodded. It was his plan after all. He wasn't that type who broke easily, especially when it was about something that important. He would find a way to not only get out of that hell but also change the laws, so people could live freely just like before. And it already looked like he had one person on his side.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone!  
> Here is the new chapter, I hope you like it.  
> Warnings: violence, minor character death

Kurt Hummel was a regular boy. He was just like everybody else, like the government wanted him to be. Or so he wanted everyone to believe. Because in the reality, Kurt Hummel had a horrible secret, one he couldn't share with anybody: he was gay. Ever since he had been little, he knew that he loved boys. 

He remembered his parents' faces when they had figured out. Kurt had been about three years old back then, too young to actually know who he was but there had been signs at the very beginning, so it hadn't been a surprise when Kurt had reached his teenager years and noticed the first signs his body gave every time he met a hot guy. Yeah, there was no mistake, Kurt Hummel was definitely gay.

Although he had had his fears, he had been positive. He had known that once he finished high school, he would move to New York and have a better life, where he could be happy like this, without worrying about how people looked at him. But things had taken a horrible turn a few years earlier, on a day Kurt would never forget.

He had been at home with his dad when he had heard about the new laws, watching the news with his old man. It had seemed so irreal at first, Kurt had thought that it was just a joke. But it wasn't. People like him were in real danger and Kurt had soon learnt what that new law really meant.

The first person he had lost was his friend, Mercedes Jones, a nice girl who had always smiled and supported him. One day, two men had appeared in his school, searching for Mercedes. He hadn't understood it then. He had grown up with Mercedes, she had been perfect just like that. At least for him. Because those people had taken her from the school, telling them that Mercedes had to change. She had been too fat and she had to be cured. Kurt hadn't understood what it meant at first. He had made his research later and made himself believe that it was the best for Mercedes, that her overweight was dangerous and she had to live a healthier life. But then, after months of silence, Mercedes had returned to school. She had been nothing like her old self anymore, she hadn't talked, she hadn't eaten, she had never smiled. She had been just a shadow of herself and she had never told Kurt what had happened to her in that recovery camp. A few weeks later, Mercedes had died. She had been starved for so long, her body couldn't take it anymore. That had been the first time Kurt truly saw how terribly wrong things had become.

Mercedes wasn't the only one Kurt had lost during those years. Artie Abrams, a boy from Kurt's class, another great person had been the next. Artie had been injured in a horrible accident when he had been little, losing the ability to walk and forced to live his life in a wheelchair. Again, Kurt had never thought that it was wrong. Okay, he had been sorry for Artie but it didn't change anything… At least it shouldn't have. Because one day, Artie had disappeared from school and they had never seen him again.

His friends had been followed by too many others. They had even taken Becky, the principal's favourite, because she had had Down syndrome and people like her weren't allowed to live freely in their community. That was the time when Kurt had realized that noone was safe anymore.

As if things couldn't get any worse, he had found out what those people did to parents who tried to hide their children. Once they were caught, they were forced to those camps, just like their children, to go through their own hell and be brainwashed before being released again. Kurt had seen some of those parents. Even if they were allowed to return home and were saved from death, they weren't themselves anymore. Nobody talked about what was going on in those camps but Kurt wasn't stupid. It was enough to look into those lifeless eyes to know that everyone was sentenced to death once they stepped through the gates of the recovery camps. Either their bodies were killed or not, their souls were destroyed for sure.

Kurt didn't need his father to tell him what he had to do. He figured out on his own that once people found out who he really was, they would take him away, just like so many friends of him before. Burt had a long talk with him nonetheless, too worried about his son. They cried a lot that night but they came to an agreement: they wouldn't let that happen to Kurt, so the boy had to act like everyone else. He had to change his look, his behaviour, his habits, everything. Kurt couldn't be himself anymore.

"I hate to do this" Burt said as he looked at his son with so much sorrow in his eyes. "I hate that we have to lie but this is your only chance to survive."

Kurt understood that and was so glad for his father's help. Most parents weren't like him. Some of them were so scared of the consequences that they took their children to the camps against their wills, not risking their own safety. For Kurt, it was worse than what the government did to them. In his eyes, a parent should be like his father, always protecting their children from the world, no matter how hard it was. He couldn't understand how those people were capable of sacrificing their own blood, only to live in safety. As if safety existed in their world…

Burt took his job as the protective father of him very seriously, though. He got Kurt new clothes and taught him how to act around others. He was always very careful not to talk too much about his son and he set up some new rules, all for his son's safety. That was how Kurt Hummel became a completely different person. One that wore flannel shirts with baggy jeans, who didn't care how his hair looked, who didn't like musicals and only listened to 'real' music, mostly to his father's favourites, although he hated all those things like hell. He wasn't himself anymore and it was slowly killing him, but he also knew that it was still better than dying in a recovery camp, away from everything and everyone he loved. 

So Kurt Hummel woke up every morning, walked to the mirror and repeated the same words over and over again.

"I'm just a regular boy" Kurt told his reflexion. "I'm like everybody else."

Things got more complicated when his father met one of his classmates' mother, Carole Hudson, and he fell in love with her. Before Kurt could even blink, Carole and her son moved in with them and it made everything a lot harder. Carole's son, Finn Hudson was one of the hottest boys of the school and although Kurt tried his best, it was hard to hide his body's reaction on Finn's sight, especially since they shared the same room. Kurt pulled away from everyone more than before, scared that he would be careless one day and Finn would tell everyone about him. He barely talked to the other boy, never looked at him and just tried to survive the days. It was horrible.

Once Kurt turned 16, he realized that being distant wasn't enough anymore. People asked stupid questions about him since he seemed to be the only one not interested in any girl of the school. It wasn't like he didn't try. He tried to force himself to feel something but it never happened. Girls were beautiful but imagining that he got intimate with one of them… It scared him. He didn't have a choice, though, he knew that people wouldn't stop asking questions and they would come to the right conclusion sooner or later. So Kurt decided to ask one of his classmates out.

Brittany was a nice girl. She was gentle and kind and somewhat stupid as well, so Kurt could fool her for a while, telling her that he wasn't ready for more than kisses since he wanted to wait with sex until his wedding day. Brittany seemed to be fine with that, to Kurt's relief. Kissing her was hard enough, he surely wouldn't have been capable of more. He reminded himself twice a day that he should kiss his girlfriend, he held her hand most of the time and told her how sweet she was. Never more. He didn't want to lie to her, so he never said anything that wasn't true. He never said 'I love you' or how sexy she was. He felt a little less bad this way.

No matter how careful Kurt was, though, he made a mistake. It happened when the new boy, Sam arrived to their school. Sam was a hot blond guy with shining eyes and unnaturally huge mouth, and Kurt fell for him the moment he first saw him. In that moment, he knew that Sam would cause his death one day and he couldn't have been closer to the truth. As much as he wanted to avoid Sam, it was almost impossible. The boy seemed to be everywhere and although Kurt did his best to shut him out of his life, he still wanted to be his friend. Maybe that was what made Kurt weak and careless.

One day, when he was with Brittany at their lockers, waiting for the girl to stop kissing his neck that made him sick, Sam walked down the corridor in front of them, wearing his new jacket he got when he had joined the football team. He walked to his locker and crouched down to get his things – and Kurt couldn't not watch. Sam's body was the most perfect he had ever seen and although he tried to control his body, he lost the battle within seconds. His eyes still on Sam's ass, he gasped, his cock twitching painfully in his pants. It was only a moment, nothing more, but he chose the worst moment possible. Because standing across them, there were a few more cheerleaders, Brittany's friends, and they saw everything perfectly. 

Once he realized what he had done, Kurt panicked. He left Brittany without a word and flee from school, knowing that he had to go home as quickly as he could. Damn, he had screwed up everything. Now everybody knew about him and he was pretty sure that it was just the matter of time that someone from the recovery camp just outside Lima would come to visit them. He had to talk to his father to discuss everything before it happened. He still believed that they could find a good explanation but Kurt needed someone a lot calmer to help him with it. So he texted his father and agreed with him that they would meet at home soon.

By the time Kurt arrived, his father was already home – and he wasn't alone. There were two men standing in their living room, listening to Burt's heated speech. Kurt gulped nervously as he stepped inside. That was fast.

"...And just because some kids from my son's school think it's funny to say things like this about him…"

"Dad" Kurt said quietly as he took a step towards his father but the men stopped him.

"Are you Kurt Hummel?" one of them asked.

"Yeah, that's me…"

"You have to come with us" the man told him.

"Why?" Kurt asked, his voice shaking with fear.

"A student from your school reported that you are sick" the man explained.

"Sick?" Kurt asked with wide eyes. "No, that has to be a…"

"Are you telling me that you aren't gay?" the man asked.

Kurt looked at his father for help. These men scared him to death.

"I already told them that it was a mistake" Burt lied easily as he turned to the men. "My son has a girlfriend for God's sake! He can't be gay."

"That's right" Kurt nodded in agreement. "I-I'm in a relationship with a girl. I'm not gay."

"You hid it well, kid, but we know who you are" the other man said.

"We have witnesses" the other nodded.

"Witnesses for what?" Kurt asked.

"You know exactly what we are talking about" the first man replied.

Kurt shook his head. Was it really that easy to send someone to that camp? Because if it was, he could have reported the whole football team and stopped the bullying way earlier...

"That's enough!" Burt said angrily. "I'm not listening to this craziness any longer. Leave my house, immediately."

"Your son has to come with us" the other man replied.

"He won't go anywhere with you" Burt said.

"You are protecting him" the man nodded. "So you know about him."

"This is crazy! You can't send me to that place because some kids made fun of me!" Kurt said desperately.

"Tell us the truth. Are you gay or not?" the man asked impatiently.

"I'm not!" Kurt said quickly. A little too quickly.

To his surprise, the man reached out and grabbed his father's arms, twisted them behind Burt's back and forced him to his knees.

"Are you gay?" he asked again, tightening his grip on Burt's arms. The man cried out in pain and Kurt tried to go to him but the other man held him back.

"I am!" Kurt said. "I am gay, I swear. Just don't hurt my father!"

"Kurt, no!" Burt shouted in fear.

"That's what I wanted to hear" the man holding Burt down said. "Pack your clothes. You are coming with us."

"If you think I will let you take my son…" Burt fell silent again as the man pulled on his arms painfully.

"You too" he hissed into Burt's ear. "You kept your son's sickness secret. You know the laws. You need therapy as well."

"He didn't know about it" Kurt said desperately. Not his dad. He would do whatever these men wanted but he couldn't let his father get hurt.

"I did" Burt replied.

"He's lying!" Kurt shouted in fear, trying to save his father.

"You are coming with us. Both of you" the man holding Kurt back said. "We heard enough. You have five minutes to get your things. Separately."

He let go of Kurt and pushed him forward, towards the stairs. Kurt hesitated for a moment but a quick look into the man's eyes behind his father was enough to know that he would better be quick if he didn't want his dad to get hurt. So he ran into his room, grabbed his bag and pushed some clothes in it, not really seeing what he got from the wardrobe. He tried to block his thoughts because he was so scared that he could barely make his hands move. But he had to hurry, for his father. Whatever was waiting for him, he had to keep his dad safe.

Once Kurt returned, he was restrained by the man from before and it was his father's turn to pack his things for the camp. Burt returned quickly and walked straight to his son to free him. He pushed Kurt behind his back as he faced the men again.

"You will regret this" he said.

"We will see about it" one man said. "To the car."

As Kurt peeked out over his father's shoulder, he saw a gun attached to the man's belt. His eyes widened when he realized what would happen to them if they didn't do as it was told. He grabbed his dad's arm from behind, hoping that he wouldn't do anything stupid. This situation was scary enough without worrying about the possibility of being killed in their own home.

They were forced onto the backseat of the car and within moments, they were on their way to the camp. Their new home for a while, if not the last one they had. Suddenly, Kurt remembered all of his friends he had lost in the past few years. Now there was a chance that he wouldn't return either, on the top of that, he dragged his father with him, only because he had been careless for a brief moment.

"I'm so sorry, Dad" Kurt cried as he threw his arms around his father.

"It's gonna be okay, Kurt" Burt said gently. "It's gonna be okay."

Kurt almost fainted as they got through the huge gates of the camp and the car finally stopped. He heard as the gates were closed behind them. Now there was no way out of here. They were officially prisoners. He held his father's hand as they were ushered out of the car and to the crowd standing in a huge circle in the middle of the camp. There was a man standing in the middle, motioning for them to step forward. 

"Kurt Hummel" he read from his papers. "Therapy for now. We will see if you can be cured."

Kurt was shaking with fear. What was that supposed to mean?

"Block 9" the man said in a bored tone. "The father to block 2."

"I will stay with my son" Burt said determinedly.

"No, you won't" the man said. "You will stay with the other parents and be released as soon as you are finished with your therapy."

"What about my son?" Burt shouted as two guards grabbed his arms and led him away, to a few dozens adults on their left.

Burt didn't get an answer at all. Kurt was dragged away as well and led to a few boys about his age. Then the guards turned him around, so he was facing the man in the middle now and left. Kurt wanted to move, to run to his father but the boy beside him grabbed his arm before he could move.

"Don't move" he said. 

Kurt was about to ask why they had to stay when he saw them. There was a young couple coming their way, surrounded by about a dozen guards. Kurt didn't understand it at first but as they came closer, he saw what the woman was holding in her arms. A baby. Maybe a few months old, barely visible in her mother's protective arms.

"She is healthy. I swear!" the woman cried.

"Take the child" the man in the middle ordered.

Kurt's heart broke in that moment as the baby was torn from her mother's arms and brought to the man who had to be some kind of leader here. He was barely able to stand on his shaky legs as he heard the desperate cries of the parents and watched as the baby was placed onto the ground in front of the leader.

"They-they can't…"

"Shh" the boy beside him said. "Don't watch. Keep your eyes on the ground."

Kurt had a bad feeling that he better did as he was told. He looked down at the grass in front of him but he still couldn't shut the voices out.

"She's just a baby!" the little girl's father shouted.

"Please, don't take her away from us. Please" the mother begged beside him.

Kurt started crying. It was too much for him. The boy beside him must have seen it because he reached out to grab Kurt's hand and squeezed it.

"It's gonna be over soon" he whispered. "Just hold on. You can do this."

A loud bang echoed through the camp and for a few seconds, everything went silent. Kurt couldn't hear the cries of the desperate parents or their scared child anymore. For a few brief second, nothing moved. But then, at the same time, all the voices returned. 

No, Kurt realized. He couldn't hear the baby's voice anymore.

"It's over" the boy beside him said, his voice full of sorrow and anger – just how Kurt felt. "We are allowed to return to our room."

There was so much Kurt wanted to say but he was still in shock. Those men had just killed a baby… A small, innocent child. Although he didn't see the body, too scared to move at first, he was pretty sure that the baby was dead. How could the others act like nothing happened? How could they think about leaving that poor family when something this horrible happened to them? Why didn't they fight? Kurt's head already hurt from the unanswered questions.

"What about…"

Kurt finally gathered his strength to look up but the boy reached out and forced him to look away before Kurt could see something horrible.

"You don't want to see" the boy said quietly.

Kurt looked straight into his hazel eyes instead and for a brief moment, he forgot about his fears. There was something in those eyes that made him believe that everything would be alright, although his mind knew that it was a huge lie. He believed his heart this time, though. The reality was too painful, too much for him. He had avoided this for so long, he didn't want to accept that he had failed and now he was in great danger, just like everyone else in this camp. He could end up like that baby...

"I'm Blaine" the boy said.

"Kurt" Kurt said shakily, surprised that he could form a proper word.

"Welcome to the camp of hell, Kurt" Blaine said. 

Camp of hell… From that little time he spent in there, Kurt already knew that the name suited the place perfectly. No matter how people called it, it wasn't a recovery camp. It was prison. Probably the last place Kurt saw in his life.

He closed his eyes as Blaine led him away form the others and towards a wooden house nearby. It was so hard to leave without making sure his dad was alright but Kurt was scared that he would see more than he was prepared for. He definitely wasn't ready to see the terrifying truth, so he kept his eyes closed until they reached the house, trying not to collapse too soon. A strong voice in his head told him that he didn't want to do such thing in front of the guards.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone!  
> I'm sorry for the long wait, I've been so busy with school and work, but I'm finally back with the newest chapter. I hope you like it.

Kurt stayed strong as they made their way into the large, dirty building, or at least as strong as he could be. He barely paid attention to his surroundings, letting Blaine lead him to their destination. There were so many thoughts running down in his mind, thoughts that made him scared and worried about his and his father's future. He still couldn't believe that this was happening to him. He had been so careful, he had always paid attention, why was this happening to him then? And the most important question was, what would happen to him now? He couldn't get the sounds of earlier out of his head. Screams of fear and pain, the sudden death of an innocent child who didn't deserve her fate… It was just too much for Kurt.

Once they stopped and Blaine let go of him, Kurt collapsed, bursting into tears. He fell to his knees and buried his face into his hands, shaking badly. He heard people talking around him but he couldn't make out the words. He was all alone. He was torn from everyone he loved and he was so scared… He missed his dad, he even missed Carole and Finn and everything from the outside word. His life had seemed like a prison before but it was nothing compared to this place. 

"Hey, look at me."

Strong hands grabbed his wrists and forced them away from his face. Kurt couldn't stop crying but he raised his head, looking into those hazel eyes again. Blaine. The boy from earlier. He was kneeling beside him, holding his hands in a tight grip.

"I can't do this" Kurt said desperately. "I don't want to die!"

"You won't" Blaine said.

"You can't be sure! You saw what they did to that baby!" Kurt said hysterically.

"Would you shut up? They will punish us all if you can't keep it down" another boy with bright green eyes said.

"Shut up, Smythe" Blaine barked, not even looking at the boy.

"He will cause us trouble" Smythe said.

"I said shut up!" Blaine shouted.

To Kurt's surprise, Smythe listened to Blaine. He muttered something Kurt couldn't hear but stepped away from them and joined the other two boys sitting on the other side of the room. Kurt finally looked around and noticed that he was in some kind of a bedchamber. It was way too simple, with only five beds and one wardrobe in it. No other furniture, no decoration, nothing. It looked like a cell. Exactly, it was a cell, Kurt realized as his eyes landed on the bars behind the windows. There was no way out of here. He started panicking again, trying to pull his hands free of Blaine's grip.

"You have to stop this. You're going to hurt yourself" Blaine said.

"I have to get out of here" Kurt said.

"There's no way out of here" another boy with blond hair said.

"We will see about that" Blaine snorted.

"Let go of me" Kurt said, keeping his eyes on Blaine.

"Only if you promise me to calm down" Blaine said.

"How could I calm down? They took me from home. They hurt my father and brought us both here and then they killed that baby and…"

"Kurt, I know this is hard. Believe me, we both know" Blaine said gently. "But there's only one way to survive this. I will get you out of here but you have to do what I tell you."

"Why should I trust you?" Kurt asked.

"Because you don't have a choice" Blaine smiled.

"How do I know that you aren't working for them?" Kurt asked. It sounded silly even in his head but he couldn't help it. He wasn't in his most reasonable state.

To his surprise, Blaine threw back his head and laughed. Kurt couldn't believe he found it funny. That he was able to laugh in such a horrible place.

"You don't know who I am, right?" Blaine smiled.

"No" Kurt admitted.

"It's time to introduce ourselves then" the blond guy said. "Hey. I'm Jeff and this is my boyfriend, Nick."

Kurt looked at the blond and then at the shorter brunette beside him. Did he just hear… Were they really...

"No, it's not allowed here either" Nick answered Kurt's silent question. "But we are careful. Noone knows about us."

"Except for these guys here but we can trust them" Jeff motioned towards Blaine and Smythe.

"The gruff one is Sebastian Smythe" Blaine nodded towards the tall boy. "And I'm Blaine. Blaine Anderson."

Kurt's eyes widened in recognotion. He had heard this name before. Hell, it had been all over the papers just a few weeks ago. Blaine Anderson was the most famous gay boy of the states. He had survived more than anyone since being locked up in his first camp two years earlier. This one must have been about the third or fourth prison of him. He always escaped with a bunch of other prisoners who had never been found after that. Well, that was what Kurt had read. If Blaine was here again, it must have meant that he wasn't that lucky after all.

"How are you still alive?" Kurt asked the first question that came into his mind. Escapees were always sentenced to death. 

"That's an interesting question, isn't it?" Sebastian smirked.

"Let's say I'm lucky" Blaine shrugged.

"You mean your dear daddy pays them well to keep you alive" Sebastian said.

"Just like yours" Blaine snorted.

"And we use it to our own purposes" Sebastian said happily.

Kurt didn't understand a thing. His head was still spinning and these boys just made everything more confusing.

"I… I don't think I know what you are talking about" Kurt said quietly.

"No wonder. You must be exhausted" Blaine said. 

He stepped away form Kurt and walked to his bed. He grabbed something from it and went back to Kurt. Kurt glanced at his hands to see that Blaine was holding a piece of bread out for him. 

"Take it" Blaine said encouragingly.

"I-I'm not sure I could eat right now" Kurt said hesitantly.

"You have to keep up your strength. It's gonna be a hard ride" Blaine said.

A small voice in Kurt's head told him that he should listen to Blaine. He took the bread from him and bit into it. It wasn't too fresh but Kurt didn't mind. He only needed it to stay alive.

"Now let's go to sleep" Blaine said when Kurt finished his small dinner. "That bed beside mine is yours. Your things will be here tomorrow, once they go through them and decide what you can keep."

"They will go through my things?" Kurt asked with wide eyes.

"Of course" Jeff said. "They can't let us have anything to help us escape."

Of course. They were prisoners now.

"Go to sleep, Kurt" Blaine said gently. "You have to rest."

Kurt was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to fall asleep anytime soon, but he listened to Blaine. He got under the old, grey comforter and laid his head onto the hard pillow. It was so not like at home. Home… He thought at his dad again. His poor father, he must be so worried about him… And Kurt couldn't be sure if he would see him anytime soon.

Kurt fell asleep surprisingly fast that night, too exhausted from the day's happenings. Although his dreams were disturbed by horrible pictures of the previous day and possible scenarios of the future, there was a boy with hazel eyes protecting Kurt from them, bringing him back to his deep and peaceful sleep.

~ o ~

Kurt woke up to a loud bang coming from… somewhere. He didn't even know where he was at first and he jumped up, almost tripping over his own feet.

"Get up, freaks!" said a loud voice from outside.

"What's going on?" Kurt asked in fear. 

He looked around in confusion before he remembered where he was. Right, the camp. It wasn't just a nightmare, he was still in that camp. He looked at Blaine who meant the only safety for him in this place. He didn't know why he trusted the boy so much but as he looked into those eyes again, he felt a little less scared than before.

"Come on, Kurt. We have to shower" Blaine said. "Then we are going to have breakfast together. If you are lucky, you can see your dad before the therapy begins."

His dad… That was what Kurt wanted the most, to make sure his dad was fine. He got ready in no time. There wasn't anything to do after all, he was still wearing his clothes from the previous day and he didn't have his bag. There was no mirror in the room, so he could check his hair, so he silently waited at the door for the others. Soon they all joined him and Blaine squeezed his hand reassuringly before they stepped outside.

Kurt followed Blaine and the other boys to the bathroom which – to Kurt's horror – they shared with dozens of others. There were long lines of people waiting for the showers, some of them already naked. Kurt looked around in worry. Did he really have to shower in front of everyone else? He wasn't sure if he could do it. He had never been naked in front of anyone, not even his own family member, let alone so many strangers. It felt so wrong...

"Hurry up, new kid" Sebastian said. "Let's get over with it. You don't want to be late from breakfast, believe me."

"I-I don't want to…"

"It's okay, Kurt" Blaine said gently. "You will get used to it. Don't feel ashamed, there's no reason to feel bad around us. We are in the same boat, remember?"

It didn't make Kurt feel any better, especially when Blaine pulled off his shirt and started unbuttoning his pants. Kurt looked away, blushing. Why he had to go through this, he had no idea. Okay, he could think of a thing or two. It was to torture him. He had to admit, his captors did a great job.

"Hey, you" one guard said as he stepped closer to him. "Get naked. Now."

"But I..."

"Do it if you don't want to spend the rest of the week in a cell alone" the guard said.

"Just do it, Kurt" Blaine whispered to him. Kurt could hear the fear in his voice.

Taking a deep breath, Kurt got out of his clothes and quickly stepped under the hot water. He didn't have a choice, not if he wanted to survive. And he wanted to. He wanted to give his father a chance to get out of here, so he had to do as he was told at least until his father was set free. He kept his eyes on the ground the whole time, hoping that noone could see him like this. He knew that he looked ugly. He was too skinny and his body was covered in bruises from the previous day and bullying in school. He didn't want anyone to see him like this.

Once he was done, he grabbed a towel – a towel that had been used by someone else before, Kurt realized – and got back into his old clothes. They were all dirty, so Kurt didn't understand why he had to clean up to get back into them. It didn't make any sense.

Once they were done in the showers, they were led outside again. Kurt took his place beside Blaine in the circle, his eyes searching for his father. He found him, standing between the adults from the previous day, and he started walking towards him without thinking, only to be pulled back by Blaine.

"What…"

"Wait until you get your breakfast" Blaine said. "Then we can find a place near him to sit. You can't touch him, though, so no hugs. But you can talk to him a bit."

He couldn't even hug his father anymore… How could this place be so horrible?

Kurt was completely silent as he followed Blaine and the others to the middle of the circle. He kept his eyes on the ground, lost on his thoughts. It was a huge mistake. As they got closer to the guards, Kurt's eyes landed on something dark. Blood. Suddenly, he remembered everything from the previous day and he felt like he would throw up in any second.

"Hey, are you okay?" Blaine asked quietly.

"No" Kurt replied.

"Let's get our food and find your dad, okay?" Blaine said.

Kurt nodded, although he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to eat after this. It turned out that their breakfast was a small piece of bread, nothing else. Kurt took it into his hand but he was pretty sure that he would get rid of it as soon as possible. Maybe he would give it to Blaine, he would surely accept some extra food.

"Kurt?"

Kurt looked up and the familiar face finally brought him out of his thoughts. It was his dad, standing only a few feet away from him.

"Dad" Kurt said, his eyes already filling with tears.

Burt stepped forward and raised his arms as if he wanted to hug him but he pulled back in the last second. Of course. He surely knew the rules, too.

"Are you alright, son?" Burt asked. "They didn't..."

"I'm fine, dad" Kurt said, trying to be as reassuring as possible.

"I was so worried about you" Burt said. "They didn't tell me anything when I asked about you and I…"

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine" Kurt said, forcing out a small smile.

"You don't have to pretend like this is okay" Burt said.

"I kind of do, dad. If I want to survive" Kurt said.

Burt sighed heavily, shaking his head.

"I need you to promise me something" Kurt said after a while. He couldn't be sure how much time they had left together, probably not much.

"Anything" Burt said quickly.

"Just do as they tell you, okay?" Kurt said. "They will let you go once you are done with the therapy. I want you to go and don't look back."

"I'm not leaving. Not without you" Burt said stubbornly.

"Dad, you know what they might do to me" Kurt said.

"I won't let that happen" Burt said seriously. "I will protect you, Kurt, even if I have to die."

"Don't say that" Kurt said. He wanted to hug his father more than ever.

"I will" Burt said determinedly. "They can force me to listen to their craziness but they won't force me to leave my family. And you can't ask me to do so either."

"I love you so much" Kurt cried.

"Kurt, we have to go" Blaine said as he stepped forward.

"No, I have to stay with my dad" Kurt said.

"We have to go" Blaine said, his voice surprisingly serious. "Breakfast is over and if we don't show up for the therapy soon, they will punish us."

"Go with him, son" Burt said. "I will be fine."

Kurt didn't want to go. He wanted to stay with his dad to make sure nothing happened to him, but he knew he couldn't do that. He had to go with Blaine because that was the only way to keep himself and his dad safe. He wished his father wouldn't do anything stupid while he was gone. He had lost his mother before, he couldn't lose his father as well.

~ o ~

The therapy seemed like his classes in his old school, at least at first. There were about a dozen other boys in the room with him, his roommates and some other boys he didn't know. There was a 'therapist', Mrs Wilson, a woman who scared Kurt to death with one look, and of course the guards. As Kurt realized, there were guards everywhere, constantly watching them. Now there was one standing in the front with Mrs Wilson and another one in the back of the classroom. They didn't move, although they kept their hands on the guns attached to their belts. Kurt gulped nervously. They were ready to hurt them if necessary.

"Mr Hummel."

Kurt's eyes widened as he looked back at Mrs Wilson. She didn't seem too pleased that Kurt wasn't paying attention.

"Come out here" Mrs Wilson said.

Kurt's legs were shaking badly as he stepped to her, careful not to look at the guard beside her. He turned around to face the other boys, his eyes quickly finding Blaine's. The boy nodded slightly and it made Kurt relax a bit.

"Tell us why you are here" Mrs Wilson said.

"I…" Kurt wasn't sure if he had to say the truth or something else. "I was caught looking at another student's butt who happens to be a boy."

"Wait, that's all?" Sebastian asked suddenly. "Damn, it's not even sure that he is gay. What is he doing here then?"

"Silence, Mr Smythe" Mrs Wilson said in a bored toned.

"I'm gonna tell you, Sebastian" Blaine said, turning to his friend. "If they want the government's money, they have to keep the camps full. Since they already cleaned the area from 'dangerous elements', they catch everyone they can, even if they don't belong here."

Kurt watched Blaine with wide eyes and open mouth. He couldn't believe he was so brave, talking like this in front of their therapist. Mrs Wilson clearly didn't like how Blaine talked about the system. She pressed her lips together, looking at Blaine as if she wanted to choke him.

"We are doing the right thing here, Mr Anderson" Mrs Wilson said. "We are helping you to become decent citizens, so you can return to the community."

"Do you honestly think that you can feed any of us with these lies?" Blaine asked. "I saw his father this morning. He was beaten up. I'm pretty sure Kurt was forced to say that he was gay to save his father. He isn't here because you have any proof against him. He was brought here because he didn't have a choice."

"I suggest you to shut your mouth, Mr Anderson" Mrs Wilson said.

"Or what?" Blaine asked. "Are you going to lock me up again? Or beat me? Do you honestly think that you can scare me with such threats?"

Kurt was seriously worried about Blaine now. The guards stepped towards him and Kurt was scared that they would hurt him. Blaine didn't seem scared of them, though. He stood up straight, seemingly not caring about the consequences.

"If you think that anyone buys your lies about curing us, you are very wrong" Blaine said. "People already start to realize what you do here and once we make it public, they will burn down this place just like the other camps. If you are lucky, noone will get hurt. Not like you don't deserve it after what you did to us here."

Kurt cried out in fear as the guard from behind stepped forward, grabbed his gun and hit Blaine's back with it. The boy fell to his knees, hissing in pain. Mrs Wilson left her place to walk to Blaine, gripping his hair and forcing his head back.

"Congratulations, Mr Anderson. You just earned yourself a day in a private cell" Mrs Wilson said, motioning for the guard behind Blaine to handcuff him.

"I already missed that place" Blaine said, smiling.

Kurt couldn't believe Blaine was so brave. Or stupid, depending on how you looked at the situation. Either way, Kurt agreed with Blaine, even if he wasn't brave enough to admit it to anyone else. This system was wrong and it just became worse.

Blaine was led out of the room and Kurt walked back to the others.

"Is he going to be alright?" he asked as he leaned closer to Sebastian.

"Don't worry. It happens all the time" Sebastian shrugged. "They can't break him so easily."

Kurt just hoped that Blaine didn't do anything stupid while being locked up. He didn't want to see him get hurt. Blaine certainly didn't deserve it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone!  
> Here is the new chapter. Enjoy!

Kurt was getting seriously worried about Blaine. Although the others told him that Blaine would be fine, that he was strong and being locked away for a day didn't cause any damage, Kurt could see the worry in their eyes and noticed how quiet they were without Blaine being there. It certainly wasn't just him who cared about Blaine.

He couldn't sleep that night, unable to stop thinking about where Blaine could be or how he felt. He didn't see him at dinner that evening, so he probably wasn't allowed to leave even for that short time. Kurt kept wondering what they did to him. Maybe he was lucky and only had to spend some time locked up in a cell, but Kurt had a bad feeling that it was about something more. Mrs Wilson had seemed really pissed off and although Kurt didn't know much about the woman, he could tell that she wasn't the type who let being insulted go so easily, without taking revenge. No… She seemed like she believed in those lies about them, or at least she believed that she could change them. Either way, Kurt would surely not try anything like Blaine in her presence. That voice in his head told him to be careful around her if he wanted to survive.

He wondered why Blaine stood up against her when he seemingly knew how it would end. Of course he did, he was a veteran here, he probably knew this camp and the others better than anyone. It reminded him on those little talks the boys made during the day. Kurt didn't understand much but it seemed like Blaine was some kind of a leader here. It didn't make much sense, considering that they were all prisoners and there was no way out of here, so they didn't need anyone to lead them.

Okay, that wasn't completely true. Kurt had heard about the other camps. Just during the previous year, three of them had been destroyed completely. The prisoners had escaped and most of them were still in hiding, the government wasn't able to find them.

And then here was Blaine again… Blaine had escaped other camps but he was still locked up. How was it possible? Blaine was a clever boy, he surely knew where to go and how to be careful to avoid the authorities. But it didn't seem like Blaine tried too hard to avoid those people searching for him. Sometimes Kurt had a feeling that he liked being here. Maybe Blaine wasn't as smart as Kurt believed.

Or maybe… There was another explanation that seemed too wild for Kurt. He had heard stories about a certain group who fought against the government, who wanted to close the camps and did everything possible to destroy these places. If those rumours were right, they were responsible for those fires in the other camps. Kurt had also heard that they had people in the system, some of them as prisoners who helped the group from inside. Was it possible that those rumours were right and Blaine was one of those people?

It seemed impossible. Blaine was so young, just a boy like him… Or maybe he was more? If he could believe Sebastian and the other boys, he was. And if he was, he was planning to do something in this camp as well.

Kurt felt the fear for Blaine rise again. He didn't even know this boy but he already found himself caring about him. He didn't know why. Maybe because Blaine was so nice to him, but Kurt didn't want him to get hurt. On the other hand, he hoped deep inside that he was right about him and Blaine would do something to free them from this place. These camps weren't supposed to exist. They were supposed to burn, all of them, and people were supposed to live freely, like before. They deserved to be treated like every other human being. They weren't different after all. Kurt remembered his friends he had lost because of the camps. None of them deserved to die, not like this. He found himself thinking about doing something on his own. Although he was scared, he wanted to change things, like those other people did. But was he strong enough to fight? He wasn't sure…

Kurt didn't sleep that night at all. He got up from bed when the guards came, went through the regular schedule, his eyes always searching for Blaine. The day was almost up, it was time for him to return but Blaine didn't come back. Kurt was really worried about him, fearing the worst. What if they killed Blaine? What if he would never see him again?

But just after their therapy began, the door opened and two guards stepped inside, carrying a boy in their arms. Kurt didn't need much time to realize that it was Blaine. Blaine who was badly injured, barely able to stand on his feet. Kurt stood up immediately and he wasn't the only one. Sebastian, Jeff and Nick joined him as well.

"Sit back down" Mrs Wilson said.

Kurt didn't listen to her. Once the guards let go of Blaine and the boy fell to his knees, Kurt rushed to his side to check over him. Blaine was hurt, he had several cuts and bruises over his body but he tried to stay strong. He even forced out a small smile as Kurt knelt down beside him and gently touched his cheek.

"What happened to you?" Kurt asked gently.

"Just the usual" Blaine shrugged, wincing in pain.

"You need a doctor" Kurt said seriously.

"I'm fine" Blaine said, closing his eyes. "It's nothing, really."

"Are you out of your mind? You are injured" Kurt said.

"Don't worry, he's used to it" Sebastian said. "Help me bring him to his chair."

"Sit back down. All of you" Mrs Wilson said.

Kurt was angry. He couldn't imagine how these people could be so cruel, how could they not care about them at all. They all saw how bad Blaine's condition was but they didn't care at all.

"He needs a doctor" Kurt said.

"I told you to sit down" Mrs Wilson said.

"No" Kurt found himself standing straight beside Blaine, his hands on the boy's shoulder to support him. "Not until you get him a doctor."

"He doesn't need one" Mrs Wilson said. "What he needs is his usual therapy, like all of you. Sit down and be silent."

"You people are crazy" Kurt shouted. "He could die but you don't even care, right? That's why we are here? You don't want to cure us. You want to kill us all."

"Silence!" Mrs Wilson said.

"I knew you were cruel but now I'm certain that you are nothing but a heartless bitch who enjoys torturing us" Kurt said.

They all knew what was coming, even Kurt who was blinded by anger. He saw the people moving towards him and so did the other boys. Blaine tried to say something to save him, he tried to stand up and protect Kurt but he wasn't fast enough. Two men attacked him at the same time, one of them hitting Kurt's back while the other one attacked his face. Kurt groaned in pain and fell to his knees, unable to breath for a few long seconds.

"Kurt, just be silent" Blaine whispered to him. "I'm not worth it."

Even if he was in so much pain, Kurt wasn't able to hide his smile. Blaine was wrong. They had to stand up for each other, all of them. As Blaine had defended him the previous day, Blaine deserved the same.

"Bring them back to the bedchambers" Mrs Wilson said. "I want you to be back tomorrow, though. Without fight. Mr Anderson, please, tell Mr Hummel what happens to those who can't keep their mouths shut. I mean those whose fathers can't pay to keep their children alive."

For the first time since he had arrived, Kurt saw fear in Blaine's eyes. Real fear. Even he could tell that it was a real threat and Mrs Wilson would take the right steps to get rid of him if necessary. He didn't understand the whole thing, though. Sure, he had heard Sebastian and Blaine the other day but things still weren't clear for him. Maybe Blaine would tell him once.

Kurt didn't have more time to think. His arms were grabbed roughly and he was led out of the room. He heard Blaine moan in pain and he looked back to see that another man held him in his grip, pushing him forward. Blaine was clearly in pain, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. He could barely walk and every time he made a step, he grimanced. Kurt wanted to cry. He knew that he was the cause of Blaine's pain. If he had just kept his mouth shut…

They were led back to their room, the guards pushed them inside, not caring if they hurt themselves again. Kurt landed on the ground and he didn't even have time to turn around when he heard another thud and found Blaine lying on the ground beside him, with his eyes closed, fighting to be able to breath. The door was closed behind them in no time and once Kurt heard the soft click of the lock, he pushed himself up to his knees and moved closer to Blaine.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern.

"Yeah" Blaine said weakly. "Just give me a second."

Kurt held his breath for a few seconds as he watched Blaine fight to collect the remaining of his strength. He took a few deep breaths and when he opened his eyes and saw the concerned look of Kurt, he forced out a small smile.

"Don't worry. I will survive" he whispered.

"I'm so sorry, Blaine" Kurt said. "I shouldn't have said those things."

"You were right" Blaine said. "God, I knew you were special but I didn't know you had it in you."

"What are you talking about?" Kurt frowned.

"You are so strong" Blaine said.

"I'm not" Kurt replied. "I'm so scared of them. I'm not sure if I will survive this."

"You will" Blaine said. "Trust me. I will get you out of here."

Those mysterious words again. If Blaine really meant it or just wanted to make him feel better, Kurt wasn't sure.

"Do you know a way out of here?" Kurt asked carefully.

"Maybe" Blaine replied.

That wasn't too exact.

"What did they mean when they said your father paid them to keep you alive?" Kurt asked.

"What do you think?" Blaine asked as he looked up at him again.

"Your father surely isn't okay with this…"

"You surely don't know my father" Blaine snorted.

"He let them take you?" Kurt asked.

"Worse" Blaine replied. "He called them on the first place."

Kurt needed a whole minute to process the information. Did it mean that… Oh, God. Blaine's father had asked those people to lock his son up. How could someone do this to his own son?

"Because he can't accept that his son is a fag" Blaine said to answer Kurt's silent question. He wasn't the first one who asked this from him. Kids who had been raised in real families didn't understand Blaine's father. Of course not. They didn't know what it was like to grow up with such horrible people.

"I'm sorry, Blaine" Kurt said quietly.

"It's fine" Blaine shrugged. "To be honest, I'm glad I don't have to be around him anymore."

"It surely wasn't that bad…"

"It was" Blaine said. "But he made it better for me. I got used to this place, it's not that bad once you forget what the outside world is like."

"You don't really believe in it" Kurt said.

"No, I don't" Blaine smiled. "I believe in a world where people like us don't have to be scared of the government. Where you don't get caught because of checking out another student."

Kurt smiled sadly. He wanted a world like that, too.

"At least he makes sure I don't get killed" Blaine said after a while.

"So he pays them to keep you alive?" Kurt asked.

"Yeah" Blaine said. "They are allowed to punish me but they can't kill me. That was the agreement. My dad must have paid a pretty prize for them because they didn't lose their patience, not even when I did something awful. Which I do quite often."

"I figured out" Kurt nodded.

"You shouldn't follow my example" Blaine said. "I don't want you to get hurt, especially not for me."

"I can't promise anything" Kurt said.

"You have to" Blaine said seriously, taking Kurt's hand. "Promise me to be more careful."

"I'm gonna try" Kurt said in the end.

"That's enough for me" Blaine said.

He tried to push himself up from the gorund but it didn't work. Kurt was there in a blink, taking Blaine's hands, carefully pulling him up from the ground.

"Here, let me help you" he said as he guided Blaine to his bed. "Now lie down. I want to check on your injuries."

"You don't have to..."

"I want to" Kurt said.

Blaine sighed and nodded. Kurt reached out to touch Blaine's cheek first, then moved his hands down to his chest. When Blaine hissed in pain, Kurt reached for his shirt and pushed it up, so he could have a better look of Blaine's chest.

"God" he said with wide eyes. It seemed like Blaine's whole body was covered in bruises.

"It looks worse than it is" Blaine said.

"You don't have to lie to me. I know exactly how badly these bruises hurt" Kurt said.

"Experience?" Blaine asked.

"You can say that" Kurt answered. He wanted to help Blaine but he knew there was nothing he could do for him. Only time could heal thesed injuries. "Why did you do it?"

"Do what?" Blaine asked.

"Why did you defend me?" Kurt asked.

"Because you are too good to be here" Blaine said.

"You don't even know me" Kurt pointed out.

"I feel like I do" Blaine said. "Ever since I saw you the other day, even when I wasn't sure that I would have a chance to get to know you, I knew that you were special. I could see it in your eyes."

"I'm not special" Kurt said.

"You are. For me anyway" Blaine said.

Kurt blushed under Blaine's gaze. There was something in Blaine's eyes he hadn't seen before, something that made him feel warm and took his breath away. Kurt didn't understand it because it was the first time he felt like this in another boy's presence.

"You can feel it, too" Blaine said.

"I-I don't know what you are talking about" Kurt said hastily.

"You don't have to suppress your feelings. Not when I'm around" Blaine said.

"I don't…"

"I can feel it, too" Blaine said gently.

"What is this feeling?" Kurt asked.

"Affection" Blaine replied. "Have you never felt like this before?"

Kurt shook his head. Yeah, his body had reacted to the sight of some boys before but Blaine made him feel like noone else before. Even if it was nice, it scared Kurt, especially after what Blaine said. They weren't supposed to feel like this, especially not in this hell. They could get killed for their feelings.

"We can't" Kurt said.

"We can't what?" Blaine asked.

"We can't feel like this" Kurt muttered.

"Of course we can" Blaine said as he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position, wincing in pain as he did so. "Kurt, this is all natural…"

"They will hurt us" Kurt said. "If they find out, they…"

"They won't find out" Blaine said seriously.

"It's still not right" Kurt said, looking away. "Not like this."

"I wish we lived in a better world" Blaine sighed. "I love dreaming about it. A place where people like us don't have to hide. Where we can be together without fear. Where I can meet hot guys with bright blue eyes and ask them out without trouble. I dreamt about it last night, you know. About you and me."

"What was it like?" Kurt asked.

"I was in a café with my friends. They talked about some boring competition again but I didn't pay attention. Especially not after you walked inside with your own friends" Blaine started.

"It sounds nice" Kurt said.

"You didn't notice me at first but after a while, I gathered my courage, bought you a coffee and walked to you. I was afraid that you would send me away but you didn't" Blaine said.

"So you asked me out in your dream?" Kurt asked.

"I did" Blaine nodded.

"Did I say yes?" Kurt asked next

"Without hesitation" Blaine said.

Kurt smiled. He imagined meeting someone like that so many times. He dreamt about long walks, coffees and dinners, movies and flowers, everything possible. He wanted that, too.

"Would you go on a date with me?" Blaine asked after a while. "If we were free to date, of course."

"I think I would" Kurt said after a few seconds of hesitation.

A huge smile spread across Blaine's face, the first real one of happiness. Kurt was glad he could make him feel like this.

"You should have some rest" Kurt said after a while. "I have a feeling that they won't let us stay here alone much longer."

"You might be right" Blaine said.

Kurt helped him lie back down and then moved to his own bed. When Blaine closed his eyes and didn't open them again, Kurt sighed and lay down, believing that Blaine was asleep. He used that little time he had to imagine a world Blaine had talked about. It seemed so nice, being able to date anyone, moving around freely, acting like he wanted to… He really wanted that. 

Kurt fell asleep soon but he was the only one. When he heard Kurt's breathing slow down and become steady, Blaine opened his eyes and turned his head, so now he was looking straight at the boy's face. Kurt was a beautiful boy, nothing like anyone Blaine had met before. He was special. Someone who deserved to be happy.

"I can't wait for our first date, Kurt Hummel" Blaine whispered. It was just the matter of time and they would be free again. They only had to survive until then.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone!  
> Here is the new chapter. Enjoy!

Kurt wasn't sure how long he could do this. He wanted to be strong, really, mostly for his father, but it became harder with every day and sometimes he felt like it would be easier to just give in. If it meant letting himself get killed or being changed into someone he didn't want to be, Kurt wasn't sure. He knew that he couldn't do this much longer, though. He had always thought that he was a strong boy who couldn't be broken. After spending two weeks in the camp, he started to realize how very wrong he had been. Every day seemed like endless torture where he couldn't have a moment of peace or happiness, where he was always scared and uncertain. He hated therapies, he hated those people telling him that he was sick, he was scared of the guards and he was getting weaker from the lack of food. He hated being humiliated in every possible situation and he missed his family so badly. He just wanted to get out of here. 

There was only one person who made him feel a little less awful. Blaine. Although Kurt had gotten closer to his other roommates, Blaine was nothing like them. None of the others made Kurt's heartbeat speed up and none of them could make him smile in this horrible place. Blaine, on the other hand, always knew how to make Kurt feel a little better when he needed it the most. Blaine always saw when Kurt had an especially hard day and he was always there for him. They talked a lot, mostly after cerfew, when they were safe in their room. They stayed awake almost every night, talking about their past and future plans. They liked dreaming about a better future together and sometimes Kurt even believed that they could make it. They never talked about how it would be possible, knowing that it would be too painful to admit that there was no way out of here for them. No, they only talked about what they would do together once they were free to leave. They planned their future dates, where they would go together, what they would do. It felt nice. It was the only way Kurt could fall asleep at night.

Blaine also noticed that the therapies got harder for Kurt. Even if he was careful most of the times, he wasn't saved from Mrs Wilson's cruel games. Just a wrong word or a second of hesitation was enough to earn a new turn of punishment and unfortunately, Mrs Wilson was really creative when it came to punishing them. Kurt always had a few bruises here or there, sometimes more. One time they hurt his legs pretty badly and he wasn't able to walk for days. He was luckier than most of the others, though. His roommates got a lot worse injuries and the other boys were punished more often than him as well. They just took it better. Maybe Blaine had been wrong about him being strong… 

Blaine always tried to make Kurt forget about his misery after his punishments. He always stayed with him, even if it meant being punished himself. Sometimes Kurt felt like Blaine let himself punished, only to be with him. Kurt didn't understand why he did it. Sure, he knew that Blaine was safe from being killed. He also knew that Blaine liked him, a lot. He didn't miss one time to let Kurt know how he felt. Kurt still couldn't understand him. He liked Blaine as well, he liked dreaming with him, he liked everything they did together but what Blaine did for him was insane. Maybe Blaine was broken as well. Staying strong for so long surely wasn't possible, this place had changed Blaine as well, no matter what he said. Maybe that was how it affected him. 

Kurt wished he could take it better. He wanted to act like Blaine, he wanted to be strong and proud all the time. And he wanted what Blaine wanted… More than just those small touches they had. Blaine often took his hands during the day when it was safe and they often spent the evenings in each other's arms. But that was all. Although Kurt enjoyed having Blaine so close, he wasn't ready for more. It wasn't like Blaine didn't try. One night when the others were asleep and it was just the two of them, after an especially beautiful dream they shared, Blaine reached under his chin and pulled him close. Their lips almost touched but then Kurt freaked out and pushed Blaine away. 

"I'm sorry" he said quickly. "I just… I can't."

Blaine seemed to understand him. He wasn't angry, he didn't try to push Kurt into anything. He kept some more distance, though, but not because he seemed hurt when Kurt rejected him. It looked more like he wanted to give Kurt the space he needed. It made Kurt feel so bad. He wanted to be with Blaine but not here… He couldn't do it here. Not just now, he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to open up to Blaine, not even if he had to spend the rest of his life in this camp. He needed safety and privacy, something they couldn't have in a place like this. So no matter how much he wanted Blaine, he wouldn't have him. Unless a miracle happened and the government decided to close the camps and set them free. Unfortunately, it didn't seem like they planned to do something like that.

"What's bothering you, son?" Burt asked one day when they were sitting together at dinner, of you could call it that. Kurt was tired of having nothing but bread to eat, he couldn't even look at it anymore. He barely ate, only to stay alive, but he already felt the effects of the lack of food on himself. He was always tired and pale, he felt dizzy mos of the time, his skin and hair looked horrible and he had lost a lot of weight.

"It's nothing" Kurt said quietly. Although he was always happy to see his dad, they had nothing to talk about. Not anymore.

"It's more than the usual" Burt pointed out.

Kurt sighed sadly. His father knew him better than anyone else.

"I'm just getting tired of this" Kurt said.

"I know" Burt said. "I wish I could get you out of here."

Kurt didn't want to think about it. He knew that there was no way out of here for him, so he didn't even wanto to think about it. It was getting too painful. With all those beautiful dreams he shared with Blaine, with the hope he had felt in the past two weeks, then the realization that it would never be true… He just wanted to get that out of his head.

"There is a boy…" he started before he could stop himself. He had to talk about this with someone. "He… He makes me feel so… weird, I guess. He's not like the others."

"Blaine?" Burt asked knowingly.

"Yeah" Kurt nodded.

"He seems like a nice kid" Burt said.

"He makes everything so confusing" Kurt said. "We talk a lot. We dream about the future but we both know that it would never become true."

"Don't say that" Burt said seriously. "You will get out of here, son. Sooner or later, those morons realize what a huge mistake they do here and…"

"What if I won't be around to see that?" Kurt asked quietly.

"You will be" Burt said. "You are strong, Kurt. You will survive."

"I'm not sure anymore" Kurt said, his voice shaking. He wanted to cry so badly. "I'm not sure I can do this. I just don't want to feel anything anymore."

"Kurt, stop" Burt said. "I know how hard it is for you now but this is just temporary. Think about those other camps. I'm sure that someone will come for us, too. We just have to wait."

"How long, Dad?" Kurt asked sadly.

"As long as we have to" Burt said. "We can do this, together. Don't forget that you aren't alone. I'm here, Kurt, and I won't go anywhere without you."

Kurt started crying. He wished he could throw his arms around his father and cry until he had no more tears left. He wished they could have some privacy, only a few minutes for themselves but unfortunately, they weren't that lucky.

"Hold on, son" Burt said and quickly pulled Kurt into his arms when he made sure noone was watching them. Only for a few seconds, but it meant so much for Kurt. "Just a little longer. I promise."

Burt wasn't the only one telling Kurt that. When they got back to their chambers that night, Blaine pulled him into his arms, seeing how horrible Kurt looked. He kept whispering reassuring words into his ear until Kurt fell asleep in his arms. Kurt reminded himself that his father was right. Even if he felt so alone sometimes, he was never really lonely. He had people on his side. He had his wonderful father who went through hell himself for his son and there was Blaine, the boy who made Kurt so confused but also a little less miserable. Kurt knew that he shouldn't forget that he had these people in his life. He was a lucky person. 

The next day, Blaine disappeared a few times again and Kurt started to get worried about him. He hoped that Blaine didn't do anything stupid because he had too many injuries already, he didn't need more punishment. He asked Sebastian and the others about him but they didn't tell him anything.

"He has some things to take care of" Sebastian said.

Kurt didn't understand what he meant. It wasn't like they had anything to do, unless you counted the regular therapies. They didn't have anything else to worry about. Blaine must have gotten into something serious because he didn't show up for a long while. Kurt was already gathering his courage to ask someone about him when Blaine finally joined them, seemingly in a good mood. 

"Where have you been?" Kurt asked as he quickly checked on Blaine, searching for injuries. It didn't seem like he was hurt, though, so Kurt relaxed a bit.

"Were you worried about me?" Blaine smiled.

"Of course I was" Kurt told him.

"I'm such a lucky man" Blaine said.

"Blaine…" Kurt sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Relax, I'm fine" Blaine said. "Come on, honey. Let's have dinner."

"Can't I just skip it?" Kurt asked. "I'm really tired of having nothing but bread all the time. I'm not sure I can eat any of that again."

"You have to keep up your strength" Blaine said.

"It certainly won't work without real food" Kurt groaned.

"Just… be there, okay?" Blaine said.

"Are you planning something?" Kurt frowned. When Blaine didn't answer, he gasped and looked around in fear before pulling Blaine close. "Are you out of your mind?"

"It's not what you think" Blaine said.

"Blaine, they will kill you" Kurt said.

"They can't, remember?" Blaine smiled.

"It doesn't mean you should test them" Kurt hissed.

The idiot was smiling again. Yep, now Kurt was perfectly sure that Blaine had lost his mind while being in the camp.

"I won't let you do anything stupid" Kurt said in the end.

He wanted to hold a longer speech about the dangers of this place but the guards were too close, he was worried that they might hear them. So he stayed still and only made sure that Blaine was still there beside him.

"Look, your father is there" Blaine said when they got their dinner. "We should join him."

"You are coming with me" Kurt said seriously.

"Of course" Blaine said. "Although if I get lost in the crowd, you should stay with your dad."

"What…"

Kurt was too slow. By the time he noticed that Blaine stepped away from him, he was already gone, lost in the crowd around them. Kurt shook his head and cursed silently. He hoped that Blaine didn't want to do anything stupid. He hated seeing him get hurt.

"Kurt!" Burt called out when he noticed his son.

Kurt sighed and turned back to his dad. He had no chance to find Blaine, at least without getting into trouble, something he wanted to avoid more than anything. So he took a deep breath and walked to his father, hoping that Blaine would be fine. He had to be.

"Is everything okay?" Burt asked.

"My roommate has gone crazy" Kurt said.

"Blaine?" Burt smiled knowingly.

Kurt sighed again and looked around but he couldn't see Blaine anywhere. It didn't help that it was mostly dark around them and only the small fires around them gave some light.

"I'm worried about him" Kurt said.

"He is a strong kid. He will be fine" Burt said.

"I hope so" Kurt sighed.

Burt didn't say anything, although he wanted to ask his son about Blaine so badly. Kurt had already told him a lot about the boy but Burt also knew that there were things Kurt tried to hide from him. As his father, Burt wanted to know everything about the kid who stole his son's heart, but he also knew how much trouble he would cause both boys if someone heard them. So he remained silent, hoping that Kurt had a chance to leave this place and be happy with the boy he liked so much. Maybe even loved. Kurt was afraid of his feelings but Burt knew that he couldn't ignore them forever.

"How are you doing?" Kurt asked his usual question. "Is there a chance that they…"

A loud bang coming from nearby made him fall silent. They didn't know what happened at first but then people started screaming and running in their direction.

"What's happening?" Kurt asked in fear.

Another loud sound made Kurt jump, this time coming from a lot closer. He still didn't move, scared of what would happen if he did.

"We have to move" Burt said and grabbed his arm.

Someone shouted them to stay still but it didn't hold anybody back. The guards seemed to be in panic, not knowing if they should go after the prisoners or back to the center of the camp where the explosions came from. Kurt kept looking back, although his father kept dragging him towards… whatever their destination was.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Kurt asked in worry. "If they catch us…"

"They won't" Burt said.

Kurt opened his mouth to say something but it turned into a gasp as he looked at his father. Because Burt's eyes told him everything. It wasn't just a coincidence, their camp was attacked and Burt was prepared for that.

"You knew about this?" Kurt asked.

"We will talk about it but not now. Let's get out of here" Burt said.

Kurt wasn't sure if he was okay with this, if he wanted to risk his life and try to escape but he didn't have time to think about it. There was a huge chaos around them and it looked like they were heading towards the main gates that was hard to reach with people running and screaming around them, when they kept pushing them away and they could only stay on their feet because they held onto each other so tightly.

Kurt felt relieved when they gates appeared in front of them. Although he had fears that they were closed like most of the time and they wouldn't get through them, as they got closer, he realized that the gates were open and there were people helping the prisoners get through them.

"Dad, what..."

"I told you, Son" Burt said as he watched the scene in front of them. "Not everyone is okay with this place."

"There are more of us than you would believe."

Kurt turned around and cried out when his eyes landed on Blaine, standing behind them in the crowd.

"Blaine!" he said as he ran to Blaine and threw his arms around him. "I wa sso worried about you."

"I told you that I could take care of myself" Blaine smiled.

"Where have you been?" Kurt asked.

"There's no time, Kurt" Blaine said urgently. "I have to get you out of here."

"You…"

"Cooper!" Blaine shouted and motioned for an older man.

A quite good looking man, Kurt realized. Okay, it was certainly not the best time for this but Cooper had beautiful bright eyes that reminded him on Blaine's for some reason.

"This is him?" Cooper asked as he got to them.

"Yeah" Blaine nodded. "Take them to safety. Make sure that nothing happens to them."

"You can trust me" Cooper nodded.

"Are you not coming with us?" Kurt asked, his worry for Blaine rising again.

"I have to make sure everyone leaves safely" Blaine replied.

"But…" Kurt fell silent again when he noticed the gun in Blaine's hand. What the hell was he doing with that?

"It's gonna be okay" Blaine said reassuringly as he pulled a stunned Kurt into his arms and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. "Go with Cooper. I will join you as soon as possible."

"But…"

Kurt had no more time to protest. His father grabbed his arm again and pulled him away from Blaine, towards the gates. Kurt kept looking back as they were ushered to a car, his eyes kept searching for Blaine even when Cooper started the car, taking them away from the camp.

"Don't worry about him" Cooper said after a while. "He is a big boy. He can take care of himself."

Kurt wasn't sure if he should believe him, if he should believe that this was real. His head was spinning and he was still trying to process what was happening around them.


	6. Chapter 6

It was a dream. Kurt was pretty sure that it was only a dream, something his mind came up with. It couldn't be anything else, right? It couldn't be real that they were freed from that camp and now they were heading towards… Kurt had no idea where. Safety. That was what the others had told him. Kurt still didn't believe them, not even when his father pulled him into his arms and reassured him that everything would be alright. Not when Kurt realized that the older man was crying in happiness. Not even when the other man – Cooper was his name? - turned around in his seat to let them know that they would arrive soon and they would get food, real food, and everything else they needed. Kurt didn't even reply. He decided that it would be less painful to just get over with this dream and wake up to the cruel reality, without letting himself believe for the briefest moment that this could be real.

But time passed and he didn't wake up. It was strange. They usually didn't let them sleep too much. It was time to wake up and Kurt was getting worried when it didn't happen. A small voice in his head told him that he should believe his eyes, that he was saved and everything would be alright. Kurt was still so scared, he couldn't believe that this was happening, that they were out of that camp and they were still alive.

"Is it true?" he asked quietly.

"What, son?" Burt asked.

"Are we free again?" Kurt asked.

"You are" Cooper said happily.

"Please, tell me this isn't just a cruel nightmare" Kurt said before he could stop himself.

"This is real, Kurt" Burt said. "We are free. Blaine and those other men managed to save us. We are free, son."

Blaine… Oh, God. They had left Blaine there.

"We have to go back" Kurt said suddenly.

"Are you out of your mind?" Cooper asked.

"Blaine's in danger!" Kurt said desperately. "What if they catch him?"

"They won't" Cooper said.

"You can't be sure!"

Okay, maybe he sounded a little hysterical but after what he had just survived, it was completely natural. He was exhausted, he had spent these past few weeks in hell, and he was worried about Blaine. Everyone would act like him in such a situation.

"Look, Blaine knows what he has to do. It's not his first time after all" Cooper said gently.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked.

"He didn't talk to you about it?" Cooper asked.

"About what?" Kurt asked back. He was so confused.

"I think it's something Blaine should tell you" Burt said.

Kurt turned towards his father. He remembered how his father had acted earlier. He hadn't been surprised when the camp had been attacked. He had known what to expect, he had been prepared for that. He had known about it.

"You knew" Kurt said. "Blaine told you what was going to happen."

"It wasn't him but yes. I knew" Burt nodded.

"And you didn't tell me" Kurt said, not even trying to hide how disappointed he was.

"I was trying to keep you safe" Burt explained.

"You should have told me" Kurt said.

"I didn't want you to worry more than necessary" Burt said. "You were always so distressed. You barely talked to me, you barely ate. I was worried that you would freak out if you had known what was coming."

Kurt didn't like this explanation but it wasn't like it changed anything. They were out of the camp and if they were lucky, they didn't have to go back there ever again.

"Where are we going?" he asked after a while.

"To safety" Cooper answered.

"And where is it exactly?" Kurt asked.

"You will see soon" Cooper said.

Kurt sighed and leaned back on his seat. He was tired of these answers that didn't mean anything for him.

Cooper stopped the car soon and Kurt got out, frowning in confusion. They were in the middle of nowhere or so it seemed for the first blink. But as Kurt leaned forward, he noticed the fence in front of them. It was dark around them, so that was all he could see, but Cooper motioned them to follow him and Kurt soon realized that there was a house hidden behind the fence. Not a house, a mansion at least. It was the biggest place Kurt had ever seen. 

"Where…"

"Some of our supporters are really rich" Cooper explained. "They let us use these places as safe houses. We keep it secret, of course, so noone will find you here."

"Are you sure?" Burt asked.

"You don't have to be scared anymore. We will help you through this" Cooper said reassuringly.

Kurt had no idea how Cooper wanted to do that when they were now fugitives and if they were caught again, they would be sentenced to death, but he was too tired to point it out. So he followed Cooper and his dad without a word, feeling like he could collapse in any second.

To Kurt's surprise, the house was full of people. There were some kids and adults who looked familiar from the camp, and then there were those people around them who brought them food and water. Kurt and his father were ushered inside and led to the empty couch. Soon a bottle of water was pressed into Kurt's hand, something he was really glad for. He hadn't even realized how thirsty he was.

"Dinner will be ready soon" a kind woman told them. "Have some rest and if you feel ready, Cooper will show you your room."

It seemed so weird. He hadn't heard a nice voice for so long and these people were all so kind to them. Kurt opened the bottle and closed his eyes as he raised it to his lips. The cold water tasted better than anything he had ever had before. He quickly emptied his bottle and was glad when Cooper got him another one. Most people didn't stop working, they were seemingly busy with the new comers, but Cooper stayed with them the whole time, keeping his eyes on Kurt. The boy felt uncomfortable. Cooper made it feel like he was special but he certainly wasn't. He was just like any other person in this place and they needed help, probably more than him. He was doing fine after all. Sure, he had a few injuries and he could use a hot shower and a few hours of rest, but he would be fine eventually. He didn't need Cooper to watch him all the time.

"Don't you have something else to do?" Kurt asked from the man.

"No" Cooper smiled. "I'm all yours."

"Are you ready to go upstairs?" Burt asked, seeing how uncomfortable his son looked.

"Excellent idea" Cooper said as he stood up. "Follow me."

Kurt sighed and pushed himself up from the couch. He just rwalized how tired he was. He wanted nothing but a hot shower and then going to bed and have a few hours of sleep. Or more. He felt like he could spend days with sleeping, he was so exhausted.

"And this is your room" Cooper said as he opened the door for them. "We don't have enough rooms for everyone, so you have to share this. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all" Burt said. "Thank you. For everything."

"It's nothing. Really" Cooper smiled. "You can find clothes in the wardrobe. I hope you will find something suitable. I will let you know when the dinner is ready."

"Thank you" Burt said again.

He closed the door and walked to the wardrobe to open its door. Kurt didn't pay attention, though. The room they were in was huge with two comfortable looking beds, a wardrobe, two chairs and a small table. They had a TV, too, something Burt surely appreciated after spending these weeks without his favourite TV shows and games. 

"Look at this, buddy" Burt said as he pulled out a shirt from the wardrobe and held it out for Kurt. "It's like the one you wanted to buy last year, right?"

Kurt stepped closer to his dad. He was right, it was the shirt Kurt had seen at the mall the previous year but hadn't bought for himself because he had been afraid of looking too gay in it. He took it from his father and held it out in front of him. The shirt was beautiful and even though it seemed a little big for him, he couldn't wait to wear it.

"It would look great with these jeans" Burt continued as he pressed another few clothes into Kurt's hands.

"They are perfect" Kurt smiled. These clothes were beautiful, they were exactly what Kurt wanted to wear. And he finally could. He but his lip nervously as he thought about it. Yeah, he was finally free to wear whatever he wanted. And he couldn't wait to do so.

"Are you happy, son?" Burt asked.

"I think so" Kurt said quietly. He needed much more to be happy but these small things made him feel a little better.

"Do you want to use the shower first?" Burt asked.

"You can go first if you want to" Kurt offered.

"No, thank you. I want to see if that TV works" Burt said, nodding towards the small table.

Kurt shook his head. Some things never changed, luckily. Even after the horror they had gone through, his father was still the same. 

"I'm gonna be back soon" Kurt said.

He stepped into the small bathroom attached to their room and got out of his clothes. He dropped them onto the ground and kicked them away. He didn't want to see those clothes ever again. He would ask someone where he could burn them because he wanted to make sure he didn't have to get into them ever again. Then he stepped into the tub and let the hot water run down his body. He enjoyed every second of it. He was finally alone, he didn't have to share the tub with anybody else, there weren't people watching him and he didn't have to be afraid of anybody. He could stay under the water as long as he wanted to, he could use everything he found there, he could clean himself properly and enjoy the wonderful scents. He missed this so badly.

He had no idea how long he had stayed in the bathroom but after a while he reminded himself that his father needed a shower as well and he had to give him a chance to clean up as well. So he got out of the tub, dried himself and got into the clothes he had gotten from his father. He had been right, the shirt was a little oversized and the pants too short, but as he looked at his reflexion in the mirror, he knew that he looked better than ever. He finally wore clothes that expressed his true self. He already loved them and was grateful for whoever had gotten him these clothes.

He stepped out of the bathroom and almost laughed as his eyes landed on his father, sitting on the edge of the bed, his eyes glued at the screen. Kurt looked at the screen and shook his head. He had no idea how his father could survive in the camp without the football games he never missed out for any reason.

"I'm done if you want to get a shower as well" Kurt said as he sat down onto his own bed. A really comfortable one. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He could get used to this.

"Just one second" Burt muttered.

"Dad, you won't miss anything in a few minutes" Kurt said. 

"You might be right" Burt muttered.

"I am. Now go, clean up a bit. You are stinking" Kurt smiled.

"Is that so? You didn't smell like a flower before your shower either" Burt teased him.

He finally walked into the bathroom and Kurt was left alone again. He sighed as he fell back onto the bed and closed his eyes, his thoughts finding Blaine again. He had to talk to Cooper to make sure Blaine was alright. He was worried about him, no matter what the others told him. He didn't trust them with this. He wanted to talk to Blaine and see him to make sure he didn't get hurt. He was so scary… Kurt didn't understand why he had taken the risk to free them all. It was so dangerous and stupid, even if Blaine only wanted to help them. He could have gotten caught, tortured, killed, everything possible. Kurt wasn't sure if he would be brave enough to do something like this for people he didn't even know. Probably not. He would be too scared about his own family.

But Blaine had no family to worry about, he reminded himself. Blaine was all alone, he didn't have his parents or anybody else. So he only had his friends and people like them to help. And he had also kept his promise, Kurt told himself. Blaine had promised him to get him out of the camp so many times, so they could make their dreams come true, and he did it. Kurt was here, he was safe, and if Blaine returned safely, they could be together. Kurt sat back up, his eyes widening. It was happening. If Blaine didn't get caught and he joined then, they could be together. They were safe after all, these people surely wouldn't judge them… He could kiss Blaine. He could have a date with Blaine, he could sit with him in the garden, he could hold his hand, hug him and everything possible.

Kurt got scared from those thoughts. It wasn't like he didn't want them but he had lived in a world where all those things had been forbidden and now he fell into a dream where being with a boy didn't seem so unreal anymore. No, it wasn't. It was possible. Kurt freaked out at the thought. Was he ready for that? Could he be with Blaine, could he truly love him? Yes, he was sure in that. But what if he wasn't enough for Blaine? He didn't know anything about love. Damn, he didn't even know how to kiss. What if he disappointed Blaine?

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. It had to be Cooper. Kurt took a deep breath and walked to the door. At least someone to distract him.

"Hey."

Kurt forgot how to talk when he found Blaine standing on his doorstep with a huge bouquet of roses in his hands. Kurt blinked again as if he didn't believe his eyes. Well, he certainly didn't believe them at first. Blaine didn't look like… Blaine. Okay, it was certainly him but this Blaine… He looked a lot better than ever. He wore similar clothes like Kurt, he was freshly shaved and he had gelled his hair down, so his head didn't look like a broccoli anymore. He looked hot. Kurt gulped nervously as he glanced down at himself. He hadn't even combed his hair after the shower.

"May I come in?" Blaine asked when Kurt didn't make a move.

"Oh, of course" Kurt said when he finally found his voice.

Blaine smiled and walke dinto the room after Kurt. They stopped in the middle of the room and turned to look at each other again.

"I brought you these" Blaine said as he raised the flower he held in his hands. "I hope you like them."

"They are beautiful, Blaine" Kurt said as he took the flowers from Blaine.

"I didn't know what you would like. We talked about flowers so many times but I never asked you which one you prefer and… Kurt, what are you doing?"

Kurt put down the flowers and walked back to Blaine, runing his fingers down his face, chest and finally, his arms.

"You aren't hurt, right?" Kurt asked in concern.

"Of course not" Blaine smiled.

"I was so worried about you" Kurt said.

"You don't have to be worried about me. Ever" Blaine said. He took a tentative step forward and pulled Kurt into his arms. He sighed in relief when Kurt didn't pull away, he put his arms around Blaine and inhaled deeply.

"Everything is going to be different, Kurt" Blaine said reassuringly. "I'm here and I won't let anything happen to you."

"What's going to happen to us now?" Kurt asked.

"I…"

The door of the bathroom opened and the boys stepped away for each other in a blink. Burt smiled as he stepped out of the bathroom, knowing very well that he interrupted something.

"Ah, Blaine. I see you arrived safely" Burt said and then glanced at Kurt's bed. "And you also had some time to get flowers for my son."

"I-I just…"

Kurt tried his best but couldn't hide his smile. Blaine, who didn't seem to be scared of anything, was terrified of his father. 

"Relax. I don't bite" Burt said.

"I know. I mean, I hope so. I-I didn't mean like…"

"Relax, kid" Burt said as he sat down onto his bed. 

"Uhm… You look great" Blaine said as he turned back to Kurt. 

"Thanks" Kurt said.

"I knew that my clothes would suit you" Blaine smiled.

"These are your clothes?" Kurt asked.

"It's the best I could get you for now. We can buy you new clothes once it's safe, though. Whatever you want" Blaine said.

"These are fine" Kurt said. They were a lot more than fine. Kurt would have been okay with anyone's old clothes but knowing that Blaine offered his own clothes for him meant a lot. It looked like they had a lot more in common than he had thought.

"Uhm… I…" Blaine glanced at Burt but luckily, the man was lost in the game he was watching.

"You can watch the game with us if you want to" Burt said, not looking up at the boys at all.

"Thank you, Sir, but I think dinner is ready. We should go downstairs" Blaine said quickly. "Are you hungry?"

"Yeah" Kurt nodded.

"They cook really well" Blaine said.

"After having nothing but bread for weeks, I don't even care" Kurt said. "Wait, we are not having bread again, right?"

"No" Blaine laughed. He reached out and took Kurt's hand. "Come on. You will love the food here."

Kurt let him lead out of the room and towards the stairs, knowing that his father followed them and probably kept his eyes on them. He had so many questions but he wanted to talk to Blaine privately. Something told him that Blaine had kept a lot of things from him. Kurt pushed those worrisome thoughts to the back of his mind for now. He needed to fill his stomach and have some rest before he would be ready to face reality again.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone!  
> Here is the new chapter. Enjoy!

After eating nothing but bread for weeks, Kurt felt like he was in heaven. He looked at the large amount of food on the table, meat, salads, fruits and everything possible and he felt like he could eat everything all alone. The others must have felt the same way because most people looked just like him. As he forced himself to look away from the table, he realized that there weren't as many people around as he had thought before. Maybe because some of the helpers weren't there anymore, he wasn't sure. There about twenty people with them, most of them familiar from the camp. Kurt searched for familiar faces but he didn't find anyone he was looking for.

"Where are the others?" Kurt asked. "They got out in time, right?"

"Yes" Blaine nodded. "They are all fine and can't wait to see you, by the way."

"But if they aren't here…"

"They are helping in the other houses" Blaine explained.

Of course. There were other places like this.

"So you are all in this?" Kurt asked.

"I'm gonna tell you everything but you have to eat first" Blaine said.

"I can't wait for that" Kurt said. Yes, he definitely wanted Blaine to tell him the truth. He could see how people looked at him and it made Kurt more curious than ever. 

They ate in silence for a while. Kurt kept an eye on his father who seemingly couldn't resist the food offered for them. Kurt couldn't blame him but he also knew that his father had to be careful. He wasn't young anymore and he had had trouble with his heart, so Kurt had to make sure he was careful. They survived the camp, he didn't want anything to happen to his dad now. 

He tried to choose something healthy for himself as well but it was so hard. He was so hungry and everything looked so good. He couldn't decide what he wanted to eat, so he got himself some meat and a lot of vegetables first. He was surprised how little he could eat. Only half of the food was gone when he felt that he was full. Probably because of starving for weeks, he wasn't able to eat like before anymore.

He leaned back in his chair and watched the others. There were mostly families around them, happy parents with their children, finally able to be together. Kurt smiled sadly as he watched them. He had no idea how much time these people had spent apart, probably more than he had been away from his father. But it was finally over. They were safe and noone would keep them apart anymore.

"Would you like to go to the garden with me?" Blaine asked when they were done with the dinner.

Kurt glanced at his father and smiled when he nodded.

"I will be in our room and watch some TV" Burt said.

"I will be back soon" Kurt promised him.

"You don't have to hurry" Burt smiled. He remembered what first love was like. It was beautiful and he wanted Kurt to go through it. He definitely needed something beautiful in his life and if Blaine could give him that, Burt wouldn't step between the boys.

"Your father is a good man" Blaine said as he and Kurt walked out of the room and towards the front door.

"He is the best" Kurt said with a heavy sigh.

"Is there something wrong?" Blaine frowned.

"Nothing. I just…" Kurt took a deep breath as he looked away.

"You can tell me everything" Blaine said.

"It's not only the two of us, you know" Kurt said quietly.

"Yeah. Carole and Finn. You talked about them" Blaine nodded.

"I don't even know what they think about us now. If we will be a family ever again" Kurt said.

"Are you worried that they would judge you because you are gay?" Blaine asked.

"Yes" Kurt nodded. "We didn't tell them. We were afraid that they would call those people and..."

"Do you think they would?" Blaine asked.

Kurt thought about it. Carole and Finn were nice people. Although he and Finn didn't always get along well, they were kind of brothers. And Carole, she loved them both like her own children. She never made difference.

"No" Kurt admitted in the end. "We are family. Although we never talked about it, I think we can trust them."

"See?" Blaine smiled.

"I wish I could see them" Kurt sighed. "They must be so worried about us. Especially Carole. We didn't have a chance to talk to them before they brought us to the camp."

"Maybe one day soon" Blaine said.

Here was it, that mysterious voice again. It bothered Kurt so much.

"Who are you, Blaine?" Kurt asked quietly.

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked.

"You are not just a regular boy" Kurt said. "I see how these people look at you. There's something you don't tell me."

Blaine sighed heavily, running his fingers through his hair.

"You are right" he nodded in the end.

"You are connected to the leader of the resistance, aren't you?" Kurt asked.

"No, I'm not" Blaine said and took a deep breath before continuing. "I am the leader of the resistance."

Kurt blinked in surprise. He opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again. He had had his own idea about who Blaine was but it seemed like he was wrong. Blaine was a lot more than he had believed.

"It's difficult" Blaine said.

"I think we have all the time we need" Kurt said.

Blaine smiled, shaking his head. Kurt was right, of course. And he deserved to know the truth. Blaine was still afraid that Kurt would freak out.

"I never wanted to lead these people" Blaine started. "I just… When I was brought to that camp the first time, I knew that I had to do something. That I couldn't let people suffer."

Blaine remembered those days when he had been just a boy like Kurt now. But then everything had changed.

"I wasn't completely honest with you about my family" Blaine said. "My parents are horrible, that was true, but I also have a brother named Cooper."

"Cooper is your brother?" Kurt asked with wide eyes.

"I don't really look like him, right?" Blaine smiled.

"Well, he is..."

"Handsome. I know" Blaine nodded. "He got the better genes."

"You aren't that bad either" Kurt smiled.

Blaine smirked and reached for Kurt's hand. He loved holding Kurt's hand and now that they could do this without fear, he planned to do it more often.

"So your brother helped from outside?" Kurt asked.

"Yes" Blaine nodded. "It was about me at first. He wanted to get me out of the camp but I already had a few friends by then. You know Sebastian, Nick and Jeff. We met in that camp and became good friends. I knew that I couldn't leave them behind, so I changed the plan. We managed to get everyone out of there, although it wasn't as easy as now. We didn't know what we were doing. We planned how to escape but we didn't think about what we should do after that."

"Is that how it started?" Kurt asked.

"Yes" Blaine smiled. "We all knew that we couldn't return home. We were fugitives, people were searching for us and they would have killed us all. So we contacted a few friends we trusted and asked for their help."

"The safe houses" Kurt nodded.

"That's right" Blaine said. "It was only a few of us at first. We took in as many people as possible but it still didn't solve our problem. We had to get those people to safety and away from the camp. We knew that it was just the matter of time that they found us if we didn't do anything."

Blaine sighed again as he remembered those times. It had been so different. They had been desperate, they hadn't known what they were doing. But it had happened a long time earlier. Things were a lot different now.

"It was a long way" Blaine said. "We had to be careful with who we can trust. It took us a lot of time but we built out this system and it seems to work fine now. We have a lot of helpers all over the states who help these people start a new life."

"I don't get it" Kurt frowned. "How are you supposed to start a new life when the government is after you?"

"There's a world out there where people like us can live safely" Blaine said gently. "There are places in the states hidden from the government, towns full of people like us. And a lot of places all over the world where noone cares about difference."

Kurt watched him in silence. It was so hard to imagine. He hadn't heard about those places, just the cruelty of the camps. He had made himself believe that that was all he could have. But if Blaine was right, there was a chance for everyone like him to start a new life. To live in peace. To be himself without fear. It seemed to good to be true, though.

"You don't believe me" Blaine smiled.

"I just…"

"You want to see it with your own eyes" Blaine nodded. "And you should. One day soon."

"You talked about those places" Kurt muttered. "When you talked about our future, how it would be like..."

"I imagined being there with you, yes" Blaine nodded and slowly leaned closer to Kurt. "What we have, Kurt, is special. I've never felt like this before. You… You make me feel alive again. You give me dreams, something I didn't have for a very long time. Since I have you in my life, I have plans for the future again. Not just for my people but also for myself. For ourselves. Please, stay with me, Kurt. Help me make our dreams come true."

Before Kurt could say anything, Blaine closed the small gap between them and captured Kurt's lips with his. Kurt found himself closing his eyes as his body reacted on Blaine's touch immediately. It felt like… magic. Yeah, it was certainly something special. He had seen it in the movies so many times and now he finally had a chance to feel it himself. With Blaine. He knew what his answer would be. He wanted this. Even if they were young and barely knew each other, he already knew that he wanted to stay with Blaine.

"Yes" Kurt said as he pulled away, only for a second before rushihng forward again to press his lips to Blaine's once again.

"Yes" Blaine asked.

"I want to stay with you" Kurt said. "I want to be with you. Forever."

Only Kurt had no idea what it really meant.

~ o ~

The next few days were magical. They spent almost every minute together, taking long walks in the garden and talking about the future. About their plans that didn't seem so hard to reach anymore. For the first time in his life, Kurt was truly happy. Blaine made him forget about his fears and his memories from the camp and he made him smile again. Kurt wished they could stay like this forever but as every good thing, it didn't last forever. One day, Blaine asked them all to join him in the living room. Kurt didn't know what he wanted to say, Blaine was so mysterious sometimes, he didn't even share his thoughts with him. He was curious what Blaine wanted to say.

"Do you know what this is about?" Burt asked when he took a seat beside his son.

"No" Kurt shook his head. "I guess we will leave this place and move to our new home."

"New home?" Burt asked with a raised eyebrow.

Oh, of course. He had planned a lot of things with Blaine but apparently, he had forgotten to share his ideas with his father.

"Uhm… Blaine talked about a place where we could live together with people like us. We would be safe there" Kurt said hesitantly. "I just… I thought you would like that, too."

Burt sighed heavily. Kurt knew how he felt. They had had a home after all, a family, and Burt didn't want to leave that behind. Kurt couldn't blame him. He missed his family, too, and it was surely worse for his father. But he had to be realistic. They couldn't return to that life ever again, not if they didn't want to get caught. They had to move to another place and start it over. Yes, it would be hard, but they could do it. Together. And now they had Blaine, too. They wouldn't be alone. Who knew, maybe one day they could contact Carole and Finn. Blaine had promised him that they would get in touch with them and if it was safe, they could follow them to their new home. They would be family again and then his father could be happy. Kurt could see him smile again and that was the most important. 

"I don't know what I want" Burt admitted. "I know that we can't return home but… I think we should discuss this."

"We don't really have a choice, dad" Kurt said gently.

Burt was about to say something but then Blaine and Cooper stepped into the room and everyone fell silent. The two men walked to the middle of the room and smiled at the others. 

"I guess some of you already know what we want to talk about" Cooper started.

"You want us to join your army" one man said.

"We won't force you to do anything" Blaine said. "We are not the government. We won't force you to do anything you don't want. You have a choice. Yes, we would be glad to see new members in our army but you are free to leave if you want to. Tomorrow, we are going to leave. We are going to bring you to our base. Then you can decide if you want to stay with us and fight or leave. If you decide to leave, our men will help you with your new identities and to start a new life. You will get everything you need, you will have a new home, new job. You will be able to live together as families again."

"What if they find us again?" a woman asked in worry as she tightened her arms around her children.

"They won't" Blaine said. "We will take to safe places where you won't have to worry about the government again."

"Did you know about this?" Burt whispered to Kurt.

Kurt didn't reply. He was staring at Blaine, unable to say anything. They had talked a lot with Blaine about their new home and new lives but Blaine had forgotten to mention that little detail that he wanted to play soldier. Kurt had thought that they would move to a little town with people like them and live happily ever after. Unfortunately, it seemed like Blaine had other plans.

"Kurt?" Burt asked in worry when Kurt didn't say anything.

"I… I have to talk to Blaine" Kurt said in the end.

He waited until Blaine told the others the details and answered a few questions. Then Kurt stepped to him, grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the others, so they could talk privately.

"What was that supposed to mean?" Kurt asked.

"What?" Blaine asked in confusion.

"You just shared with everyone in that room that you want to start a war against the government" Kurt hissed.

"Kurt, we are already in war with them" Blaine said slowly. "I have no secrets. I told you that I want to change the world, so we can have the future we deserve."

"You never told me that you wanted to fight against those people!" Kurt said. "It's dangerous, Blaine. Getting people out of those camps is one thing but creating an army against the government is completely different."

"What am I supposed to do?" Blaine asked. "You can't expect me to sit back and watch people die. We have to stop this and this is our only choice."

"Violence can never be a solution" Kurt said gently.

"Violence is the only way to stop this craziness" Blaine replied. "If we want to survive, we have to fight. If we want to change things, we have to show them that we are stronger than them. Does it mean that people have to die? Yes. It's not what I want, believe me. But too many people have died because of the government and I will stop them."

"I can't believe you are saying this" Kurt shook his head as he stepped back. This wasn't the Blaine he knew. Blaine was a gentle and innocent man, not someone who was ready to kill for his plans. Or had he been wrong this whole time?

"This is the right thing, Kurt" Blaine said as he stepped forward and grabbed Kurt's hands. "Come with me and let me show you. You will see that I'm right. Join me and help me lead our people to victory."

"I-I'm not sure if that's what I want" Kurt said quietly.

Blaine let go of his hands and stepped back, seemingly hurt. He had thought that he and Kurt were a perfect couple but it didn't seem like Kurt understood him the way he was supposed to.

"I have to think about this" Kurt said in the end.

"About what?" Blaine asked.

"About us" Kurt said, looking away.

Before Blaine could say anything, he turned around and left him. He ran back to his room and wuickly shut the door behind him, glad that his father was still downstairs, so he could have some time on his own. He didn't know what he wanted to do. He wanted to be with Blaine, he wanted to be happy with him, but he didn't want what Blaine wanted. He wasn't a violent person and he was pretty sure that he wouldn't be able to hurt anyone. But maybe he was naive to think that he could start a new life so easily, without solving the problem. He had no idea what to do… He was pretty sure that it would be a long night, but he had to make a decision in the end.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone!  
> Here is the new chapter. Enjoy!  
> The next updates might come a little slower. I have a lot coming in the next few weeks, holiday, conferences, I also have to continue my PhD research. So I won't be around too often. I have a few chapters written on my computer, I will update them when I have some time.

Things didn't get any better between Kurt and Blaine the next day. Kurt had stayed up late the previous night, trying to find out what to do but he still couldn't decide what was the best for him. He didn't want to fight, that was sure. But he also didn't want to leave Blaine and let him do something stupid. Because he was perfectly sure that Blaine's suicidal plan wouldn't lead them anywhere. He would just get himself and others killed. They had no chance against the government. There were so many people out there who couldn't accept their kind. People who wanted to lock them up for the rest of their lives or just kill them to get rid of them for once and for all. Kurt just wanted to get away from them, get to safety with his loved ones and act like everything was fine again. He wanted to live with his family again in a safe place where they couldn't get hurt and he wanted to take Blaine with them to make sure he was safe as well. He wanted to be happy with him. He loved Blaine, he was sure about his feelings, even if they had had a fight. Blaine was a nice boy, exactly what Kurt needed. He didn't want to lose him. But he couldn't agree with Blaine. He couldn't accept that their only way was to start a war and get people killed. It couldn't be the only way. Kurt couldn't accept it.

But it seemed like Blaine had already made his decision and he didn't listen to anyone. Kurt had tried to talk to him again but Blaine was still hurt. He barely talked to Kurt that morning, only letting him know when they would leave and then left again, giving Kurt no chance to talk about their possibilities. It made Kurt so angry. Blaine had talked about them as partners but it didn't seem like he accepted Kurt as one. It seemed more like he wanted the boy to follow him without question. Well, Kurt Hummel wasn't that type.

"Is everything alright, kiddo?" Burt asked in concern as they made their way towards the cars waiting for them.

"Sure" Kurt said quietly.

"Did you and Blaine have a fight? Because you have been avoiding him since last night" Burt pointed out.

"I tried to talk to him but he didn't want to listen" Kurt said. "I guess there isn't anything I can do."

"What happened?" Burt asked.

"You heard him yesterday" Kurt said.

"I did" Burt nodded. "And I think he's right."

Kurt looked at his father in disbelief. He couldn't honestly think that they should fight against the government, right? Was his father getting crazy as well?

"Look, I don't like this either but I think the kid has a point" Burt explained. "Those people won't hesitate to kill us if they find us. We can't let it happen."

"There has to be another way" Kurt said.

"I want to believe in that, too, but I don't think we can just convince them to close the camps and let us live in peace" Burt said. 

Kurt took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He didn't want to accept that they had to act like those people to save themselves. No, there had to be another option. And he would find it. He had to if he wanted to save the people he loved.

"What do you want to do?" Burt asked after a while. "Do you want to stay with him?"

"What do you want to do?" Kurt asked back.

"I want you to be safe" Burt said. 

"So you want to run away" Kurt sighed.

"I want you to go to one of those safe places and wait for me there until this is over" Burt said.

"What?" Kurt asked with wide eyes. "You-you want to fight? Dad, you can't do that! You are sick!"

"I want you to have a future, Kurt" Burt said. "You are my son. I have to make sure you don't get hurt and if I have a chance to keep you safe and ensure you a better life, I have to do it."

"What about the others? Carole and Finn. Don't you want to see them again?" Kurt asked.

"I do. I want us to be a family again. One day, when this is over" Burt said.

"You don't have to do this, you know" Kurt said gently. "You can go back to them. Take them to somewhere safe. Those people aren't after you. You would be fine."

"I already told you, Kurt. I won't leave you behind" Burt said.

"You are so stubborn" Kurt shook his head.

"Just like you" Burt smiled.

Kurt was surprised how fast time passed. They soon arrived to a deserted place and got out of the cars. Kurt was ready to ask someone what they were doing there when Blaine and Cooper stepped forward and grabbed something from the ground. Kurt's mouth hang open when he realized that it was a secret door. In the middle of nowhere. They certainly hid things well.

"Get rid of the cars" Blaine ordered his men. "Please, follow me."

They looked at each other briefly as Kurt followed the others down the stairs that lead to a long, dark corridor. He looked around in concern and it seemed like he wasn't the only one. The others seemed just as scared as he was.

"Remember, we are safe here" Burt said. "Noone will find us here."

Kurt nodded. He had to believe in that. Blaine and his men seemed to know what they were doing after all. They were led into a large room with several other people around. Kurt barely had time to look around before he found himself in someone's embrace.

"Oh, my God! You are here!"

Kurt laughed as he pulled away from Jeff. He was happy to see his friends as well. Nick was there, too, ready to hug him, and Kurt could see Sebastian as well, although he stayed back like always. Kurt was pretty sure that he wasn't that hugging type. 

"Are you alright, guys?" Kurt asked.

"Of course. We are good in this" Nick smiled.

"Does it mean that you join us?" Jeff asked hopefully.

Kurt opened his mouth but nothing came out. What should he say? He wasn't sure if he wanted this. He needed some more time to think.

"Of course not" Sebastian snorted. "Can you imagine the princess fighting on our side?"

"Shut up, Smythe" Jeff said.

"I don't know" Kurt said in the end. "I'm so confused…"

"That's natural" Nick nodded in understanding. "Just give yourself time. Look around, talk to people, take your time before you make a decision. This is serious."

"But we would be so happy if you stayed" Jeff said.

"No pressure" Kurt laughed.

"Hey, guys."

Kurt sighed as Blaine joined them and hugged his friends. He stayed away from Kurt, though, as if they didn't even know each other. Kurt rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe that Blaine could be so childish.

"Do you want to look around, Kurt?" Nick asked. "We can show you everything."

"That sounds great" Kurt smiled. "Just give me a second. My dad…"

He turned around to see his father already talking to a couple on the other side of the room.

"I guess he is fine without me" Kurt muttered.

"Come on, there's so much you have to see" Jeff said as he took Kurt's hand.

"Are you not coming, Blaine?" Nick asked when he saw that their friend didn't follow them.

"I have to take care of a few things" Blaine said.

Kurt sighed heavily. He had hoped that they could talk like adults but it didn't seem like Blaine wanted to hear what Kurt had to say. He already knew what he wanted and it seemed like he only accepted one answr from Kurt. Well, Kurt Hummel could be just as stubborn as him. He wouldn't let it go so easily. He would talk to Blaine, whether he wanted it or not. And Blaine certainly wouldn't like what Kurt had to say.

Kurt followed the others in silence. He let them show him everything. Although they were underground, the place seemed nice. They had big bedrooms with nice furniture, a huge kitchen with a lot of food and there was a common room with TV and comfortable looking armchairs. And there was a training room as well. 

"How could you get all this stuff?" Kurt wondered.

"We have some rich supporters" Jeff explained.

"And he means very rich" Nick said. "They get us everything we need. Food, clothes, weapons…"

Kurt tensed. If there was something he didn't want to see, it was the room where they stored the weapons. It was terrifying to know that they had guns and who knew what else. 

"Are you hungry?" Jeff asked. "We can go back to the kitchen and…"

"Yeah. That would be great" Kurt said quickly.

"You can stay in our room or with your dad. You choice" Nick said. "We don't have much space here but some of these people will leave soon."

"Most of them" Jeff corrected him. "People with families usually don't stay. Only those who don't have anything to lose."

"Like us" Nick nodded.

"You don't have families?" Kurt asked.

"We do" Nick said. "Only they don't want to see us again."

"Because we are sick" Jeff rolled his eyes.

"I'm so sorry, guys" Kurt sighed.

"It's fine. At least they didn't take us to those camps like Blaine's parents. They didn't really help us hide but they didn't even hurt us" Nick said. "They just… I guess they were relieved when we were caught. They didn't have to pretend that they were fine with us anymore."

"How do you know that they don't want you back? That they aren't worried about you?" Kurt asked.

"I contacted my mother when I was freed the first time" Jeff said. "I wanted to run away with her. We had a chance to start a new life and be together again. Do you know what she said?"

Kurt shook his head.

"That I'm not her son anymore" Jeff said. "She doesn't want to see me ever again."

"I'm so sorry" Kurt said honestly. He couldn't believe that some parents were so cruel. He loved his own father more and more with every passed minute he spent away from home.

"We don't need them anymore" Nick said.

"That's right" Jeff nodded as he took Nick's hands. "Once we get our freedom back, we can be together. It's worth it."

"We can have a family on our own" Nick said dreamily.

Kurt watched the two of them in silence. He had been so caught up in his own kind-of relationship with Blaine that he hadn't even thought about the others. It wasn't just about him and Blaine. There were so many other people here who deserved to be happy. Nick and Jeff deserved a real life where they could be together without trouble. Kurt wished there was another way to get that...

"What's going on with you and Blaine?" Nick asked suddenly.

"What do you mean?" Kurt asked.

"Something is wrong with you two" Jeff said. "He couldn't shut up about you before he went after you to that safe house. We thought that you wouldn't spend a single moment apart now that you can be together."

"Blaine and I… We had a disagreement" Kurt explained. "I want to talk to him about it but it doesn't seem like he wants to listen."

"Then make him listen" Nick said. "It's the first time Blaine fell in love with someone. He might be a great leader but I'm not sure he knows how to handle things like this. Just be patient. He's a great guy."

"I'm not sure that's what I want" Kurt muttered.

"Don't waste too much time" Jeff said. "Although we all want a better future, we can't be sure what tomorrow will bring. Be happy with him as long as you can."

"You deserve each other" Nick said. "I can see how he looks at you. He loves you, Kurt. And I can tell that you feel the same way."

"I do" Kurt said quietly. "I just…"

"Just tell him how you feel" Nick said. "I'm sure you can discuss this."

Kurt hoped that he was right.

~ o ~

The moment came that evening when Kurt finally found Blaine, sitting in the kitchen all alone. Hed took a deep breath and walked to the man, determined to talk to him.

"Hey" he greeted Blaine.

"Did you think about us?" Blaine asked without looking at Kurt.

"I did" Kurt said as he joined Blaine at the table.

Blaine took a deep breath and finally looked up at him. Kurt was surprised to see so much pain in his eyes. He didn't even tell Blaine how he felt. Did Blaine already know what Kurt wanted to say?

"It's not going to work like this" Kurt said.

"I thought so" Blaine nodded and turned away.

"Would you listen to me? You have no idea what I want to say" Kurt said.

"I do" Blaine sighed. "You don't want to stay. It's okay. I should have known that it was too good to be true."

"What do you want me to do, Blaine?" Kurt asked. "I can't hurt people, I already told you. I'm not okay with this. You can't expect me to change radically because that's what you want me to be."

"I don't want you to change" Blaine said quietly. "I love you the way you are, Kurt. I just… I guess I was stupid. I thought that you would join me."

"We can't hurt people, Blaine" Kurt said gently. "We are not like them. We are better. And we need to show the world that we deserve to live freely."

"Don't you think I tried?" Blaine shouted suddenly. "When I first got to that camp, I was naive. Just like you now. I thought showing them who I was would be enough. But I was wrong."

"Violence can't be the solution" Kurt said gently.

Blaine shook his head and stood up. Kurt thought that he would leave him there again but suddenly, Blaine reached out and grabbed his wrist painfully.

"What are you doing?" Kurt asked in fear.

"I'm gonna help you open your eyes" Blaine said.

Blaine dragged him down a long corridor and into another, dark room. Kurt was scared of following Blaine in there. Blaine didn't seem to think straight and he was scared of being alone with him. But the other boy still held his arm in a tight grip and easily pulled Kurt with him into the room, then locked the door behind them. Kurt stepped away nervously when Blaine finally let go of his wrist. This side of Blaine scared him. He shouldn't have acted like this.

"So you think that violence is not a solution?" Blaine asked as he walked to the large computer in the middle of the room. "Tell them."

Kurt gasped as a picture of a young boy appeared on the screen. He was clearly in pain and as he realized in horror, one of his legs was missing and he was bleeding. He was sure that he would go sick in seconds but then Blaine flipped to the next picture. And then the next. He showed Kurt dozens of horrible pictures of tortured people. Pictures Kurt shouldn't have seen at all. The boy slowly backed away from Blaine and the screen and by the time Blaine was done with his little presentation, Kurt was sitting in the corner of the room, staring in front of himself with wide eyes.

"Now tell me that what we do is wrong" Blaine said as he joined him.

"Blaine…"

"Why should we play nice when all these people do is hurt us?" Blaine continued. "You have no fucking idea what goes on in those camps. You were beaten up a few times? Lucky you. You could have had a lot worse."

"What are you talking about?" Kurt asked. He had an idea that there was something Blaine hadn't told him about his own experiences.

"Those people are cruel" Blaine said, looking away.

"What did they do to you?" Kurt asked gently as he pushed himself up to his knees and put a hand on Blaine's shoulder.

"When I was brought to the camp, I was like you. I already told you that. I thought that I could change the world with a few nice words. But they taught me the first night how very wrong I was" Blaine spat. "I woke up in the middle of the night to find three men in our room. They forced me to be still and then they dragged me out of the room."

"Oh, my God" Kurt whispered.

"They took me to an empty classroom and then…" Blaine tried to continue but nothing came out.

"Did they…" Kurt couldn't ask it either. It seemed so bad.

"They forced me onto my knees and didn't let me go until I blowed all of them" Blaine said in the end. "Because I was just a fag. I should have enjoyed it."

"Blaine…" Kurt didn't know what to say. He had had no idea that Blaine had to go through so horrible things.

"Nobody else knows about this. And I want you to keep it to yourself" Blaine said as he looked up at Kurt. "I trust you, Kurt. Even if we don't agree in some things, I still know that I can trust you."

"Always" Kurt nodded.

"I won't hold you back if you want to leave" Blaine said as he stood up. "I talked to Cooper. He can get you and your father a nice house. He also contacted Carole and Finn and they might join you soon. You will be a family again and you can start a new life where it is safe."

"I don't want to leave."

Blaine turned around sharply. That was certainly not what he expected to hear.

"You mean…"

"I'm still not okay with this" Kurt said quickly. "But I won't leave you or my dad. You would get yourself killed and I won't let that happen."

The first smile spread out on Blaine's face since they had arrived. Kurt stepped to him and pulled him into his arms.

"I think I love you" Kurt said quietly.

"That's funny. Because I think I love you, too" Blaine laughed.

"Don't laugh. It's too early to say that" Kurt said.

"I know" Blaine said as he pulled back. "I don't know how it will end but… I would like to try out with you. Who knows, maybe you will be right and we can find another solution."

"Do you believe in that?" Kurt asked.

"I have to" Blaine shrugged. "You can be really stubborn sometimes."

"Look who's talking. Weren't you the one who didn't talk to me for days?" Kurt asked.

"I just gave you space" Blaine said.

"Sure" Kurt rolled his eyes.

He was glad that he and Blaine were mostly back to normal, even if he knew that it only lasted until they didn't have to worry about the government. But once that time came, they both had to make their decisions, even if they were not the same.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone!  
> I'm finally back from my research trip and I have a new chapter for you. Enjoy!

Blaine was up to something again. He avoided Kurt, maybe not as much as before but he was certainly hiding something. And it made Kurt worried. He was worried that Blaine might be angry with him for some reason, even if he didn't think he had done something wrong. Things had been kind of alright between them, although Kurt still didn't let Blaine introduce him to the world of cruelty as much as Blaine wanted. He wasn't sure if he would be ready for that. Watching those photos the other day, hearing Blaine's story, it scared Kurt. He had seen a few things on his own but knowing what those people could have done to him… Sometimes it made him wonder if Blaine was right. He didn't want to listen to that voice, knowing that it was wrong and he shouldn't feel that way, but sometimes when he was all alone with his thoughts, he let himself imagine how it would work. Their army would win, they would free everyone from those camps and show the government that they couldn't be treated like animals. It would be so easy… But then what? Kurt wasn't stupid enough to think that it would solve anything. If they wanted to keep their freedom, they had to fight for it again and again, until they became no different than the people hurting them. They would hurt   
people to be free. Others would suffer for their lives. It couldn't be right.

But Kurt also knew that his own image of the future where they could all live happily would never be true either. Not until people started to look at them differently, until they accepted that not everyone was the same. Kurt had a bad feeling that it would never become true. There would be people out there trying to hurt them, even if they showed the government how wrong they were.

He wished he could do something to make difference. He didn't want this. He didn't want to see his friends get hurt and he knew that it would happen if they kept themselves to the plan. War meant death, even if they had a lot of people on their side, even with the money and weapons Blaine and his people got them, there would be people who died in that war on each side. Kurt didn't want that to happen. But he couldn't be a coward either, he couldn't let himself believe that things could be solved easily and they would all get through this without getting hurt.

He was so worried about the future. He barely ate, he barely talked to anyone. He usually spent his time locked up in his room, with or without his father. Burt didn't talk too much either. They often just watched each other in silence. Kurt knew that his father thought the same. Although he had told Kurt that he would stay here to help these people, Kurt knew how scared his father was. He was scared of losing his son, of not returning to his family anymore. Kurt wanted to convince him to leave and go back to Carole and Finn but his dad could be so stubborn sometimes… Just like him. And since none of them wanted to leave, it meant that they would help Blaine and the others together. They would risk their own lives and try to change the future. It was so scary to think about it. Kurt wasn't even sure if he was ready to hold a gun in his hand, let alone hurt someone with it… He just wasn't that type and even the thought made him scared. He was just a teenage boy, he shouldn't think about hurting people at all. He should be home, he should live his carefree life, he should go to the mall with his friends and enjoy his own life...

"Kurt?"

Kurt looked up to see Blaine standing just outside of his room. He didn't remember leaving the door open but everything was possible. 

"Hey" Kurt said quietly. "You disappeared again."

"I had some work to do" Blaine said as he took a step forward. "Are you alright? Jeff told me that you didn't leave your room at all. We are worried about you."

"I'm just… thinking" Kurt said.

"About your family?" Blaine asked.

"Everything" Kurt sighed. "I thought that things would be easier now that we escaped the camp but… It seems like everything is just more complicated."

"Kurt, you have a choice" Blaine said gently. "You don't have to do this. I know I was stupid when we first talked about it but I really don't want to force you to do anything. If you would like to move to a safer place with your family, I can help you. I want to help you. I want you to be happy."

Kurt smiled sadly.

"Is there a place where we can be happy until this is over?" he asked.

"I guess there isn't" Blaine sighed.

"See? That's why I'm staying" Kurt said. "I don't want to hurt people but I don't want to leave you, my dad or any of my friends behind. I would be so worried about you… It would drive me crazy. At least until I stay here, I can make sure you are all alright. If I leave, I won't be able to stay in touch with you."

"That's true" Blaine nodded.

"So I don't have a choice" Kurt smiled weakly.

Blaine sighed again as he took a seat beside Kurt and took his hand.

"I wish there was another way for us" he said.

"Me, too" Kurt said.

"Maybe one day" Blaine said. "When this is over, when the world changes and we can be happy together."

Kurt didn't say anything. Because he already knew that it would never be true. Even if they survived, they would never get what they wanted. The world wasn't ready for that.

~ o ~

Since seeing how badly Kurt felt, Blaine tried to make more time free to spend with him. Kurt shut everyone out and it made the other boy worried. They talked about it so many times but Blaine still didn't feel like Kurt made the right decision. He didn't belong here. Although Blaine wanted him to be here with him forever, he also knew that he was selfish. He couldn't ask Kurt to stay with him when it was definitely not what Kurt wanted. Kurt was special. He was such a gentle and innocent person, he didn't belong here. Kurt would never be able to hurt anyone and Blaine couldn't let him risk his own life for them. No. Kurt wouldn't be able to defend himself and he would die for sure in the first fight. Because Kurt wasn't a soldier. He was a beautiful angel sent to save Blaine's soul, to bring him out of darkness and show the way back to the light Blaine had lost so many years ago. He had to protect Kurt. Whatever he had to do, he couldn't let him get hurt. Kurt made him a better person and he just couldn't do that to him. He would survive being tortured, being humiliated again, he would survive everything possible but losing Kurt… No. He wouldn't be able to survive that.

Blaine got dressed one night, choosing his best clothes, and then grabbed the bouquet of roses from the nightstand. He had enjoyed his time with Kurt back in the safe house, when it had been just the two of them and they had talked so much, when Kurt had been so happy… He wanted to bring that back. So he planned everything and he was ready to make this night unforgettable for Kurt. He hoped that the boy would love what Blaine had for him. He knew that this place wasn't exactly suitable for a real date, there wasn't a romantic place around, at least not something that Kurt would like. Blaine still did his best to have a romantic night with Kurt. He had been such an asshole with him after all, he had been rude and he had done some horrible things, only to scare Kurt and make him stay with him. That was something he wasn't proud of and he would make sure Kurt never found out why he had done it. He would break up with him immediately for sure. 

Blaine took a deep breath as he left his room. He kept thinking about their conversation the other day. He had told Kurt that he could leave but deep inside, Blaine didn't want him to go. He was selfish, he knew. Kurt didn't belong here, he was too good to fight on their side and staying with them was too dangerous for him. Blaine still didn't want to let him go. He needed Kurt in his life. He needed him just as much as he needed air. He couldn't imagine living without Kurt but he also knew that if they had to fight, he had to leave Kurt behind or else he would lose the boy. Kurt wouldn't hurt anyone, even if it meant risking his own life. But what else could Blaine do? He didn't want to convince Kurt to leave, although it was the safest option for him. But Blaine wasn't ready to let him go… Yeah, he was certainly the most horrible person of the world. He didn't deserve Kurt.

He forced out a small smile as he reached Kurt's room and knocked on the door. Kurt opened it quickly and Blaine raised the flowers he held in his hands in front of himself. Kurt smiled when his eyes landed on the bouquet. He always smiled when Blaine brought him flowers, so Blaine got him a lot. He loved Kurt's smile.

"Lilies?" Kurt asked.

"I thought you would like something else for change" Blaine shrugged. "I can't get you roses all the time. You would think that I can't come up with anything else."

"I love roses. And these, too. It really doesn't matter" Kurt said, blushing. "Because I get them from you."

Blaine smiled. It was definitely a good start. He hoped that the rest of the evening would go just as well.

"I have a surprise for you" he said. "Come with me."

He waited until Kurt got water for the flowers and then joined him on the corridor. 

"Where are we going?" Kurt asked.

"It's a surprise" Blaine replied.

"I don't like surprises" Kurt said.

"You will love this one" Blaine reassured him.

Kurt sighed and followed Blaine without a word. He knew that his boyfriend liked being mysterious and he didn't tell him anything if he didn't want to. Kurt just had to wait to find out what that surprise could be.

Blaine stopped in front of a room and took Kurt's hand before opening it. He took a deep breath as he led Kurt inside, waiting for his reaction. He sighed in relief when Kurt stepped inside and gasped when his eyes landed on the beautifully set table with a single rose in the middle, candles, fruits and delicious looking meals.

"I know you want a real date. This isn't much but…"

"This is beautiful, Blaine" Kurt said.

"So you like it?" Blaine asked happily. "That's great. Uhm… Come. Sit down."

He pulled out a chair for Kurt and when the boy was seated, he joined him on the other side of the table. He looked at Kurt again, his smile wider than before. He couldn't believe he hadn't done something like this before. He knew Kurt, he knew that he loved things like this.

"You made it?" Kurt asked as he looked at the food in front of him.

"No" Blaine laughed. "Believe me, you don't want to eat anything I cook."

"You can't be that bad" Kurt said.

"Yes, I am" Blaine said. "I tried to learn so many times but… I guess I have no talent."

"I could teach you" Kurt said suddenly. "I mean, if you want to learn a few things. I'm a good teacher and you wouldn't be my first hopeless student."

"You have no idea how hard it will be with me, but fine. Let's give it a try" Blaine smiled. "Just don't be disappointed when it doesn't work. I already accepted that I would never be able to cook."

Kurt was pretty sure that it wasn't true. Everyone could cook, it really wasn't that hard and he believed in himself. And he was happy to find something to do with his too much free time in here. He felt so lonely when Blaine wasn't around. Sure, he had a few friends but they couldn't be with him all the time, especially since they mostly worked with Blaine, and Kurt didn't really know anyone else. He had tried to make few friends but it seemed like everyone had their own friends and nobody seemed to be interested in him.

"Tell me about yourself" Kurt said after a while as they enjoyed their meals.

"Excuse me?" Blaine frowned. "We talked about ourselves a lot. You already know…"

"I know a lot about your present" Kurt nodded. "But you never talk about your past. About your family."

"There's nothing to talk about" Blaine said quickly.

"I just want to get to know you better" Kurt said gently. "It bothers you. Don't say it's nothing because I know you. You want to talk about it but you think that it would make you weak. That's not true, Blaine. You already told me some of your deepest secrets. You know that you can trust me."

"There's nothing to talk about" Blaine said again. "Really, Kurt. I'm glad you want to help me but I don't need your help."

"You miss them" Kurt continued. "Your parents."

"You are crazy" Blaine shook his head.

"I see how you look at the families. How you look at me and my dad. You miss your parents and want them to be here."

"It doesn't matter" Blaine shrugged. "They don't care about me, so…"

"Why?" Kurt asked.

"Because they never really wanted me" Blaine finally said. "They didn't want any more children after Cooper. They thought that they were too old for having another one but you know, accidents happen. Sometimes my mother says that I fooled them. She had no symptons when she was pregnant with me and when she realized that I was on the way, it was already too late to do anything. I guess that was the time they started to hate each other. If they ever loved each other at all."

"It wasn't your fault" Kurt said.

"Tell them" Blaine muttered. "They blamed me for everything. I remember when I was young, maybe five or six years old, and I went to my mom to hug her. She never hugged me, you know? She never told me that she loved me. But I was too young and didn't understand it. I only knew that I had to try harder and show her how much I loved her. Do you what she did?"

Kurt shook his head. He knew that he wouldn't like the answer.

"She pushed me away" Blaine said bitterly. "She hated me so much that she couldn't bear my touch. Even for a second."

"That's so cruel" Kurt said quietly.

"It became better when I went to school. They found me a nice boarding school far away from them, so they only had to see me a few times a year when I went home for holidays. I guess that was the best for all of us" Blaine said.

"I can't believe they did this to you" Kurt shook his head. It was horrible. He couldn't believe how people could be so cruel to their own childrne, how they couldn't love them at all. He couldn't imagine what it was like. He was a lucky boy, his father loved him and he still remembered how much he had meant for his mother as well. Maybe he hadn't had such a horrible life after all.

"And then they found out that I was gay" Blaine sighed. "Cooper tried to save me but my father already made a decision. My mother supported him, of course. They could get rid of me and they didn't have to worry about me anymore. My father paid those guys in the camp to keep me alive but I guess he never really wanted them to cure me. If there was a cure for people like us, of course. No. It was so convenient for them. They didn't have to worry about what their rich friends thought about them anymore. Their son is a fag, they just did what they had to."

"I'm so sorry, Blaine" Kurt said. He stood up and walked to Blaine to hug him. Blaine talked about these things like they didn't matter but Kurt knew the truth. Even if Blaine tried to make him believe that he wasn't angry, Kurt knew that he was. He was hurt and he had to open up to someone. That was the only way to bear the pain Blaine must have felt.

"I've learnt to live with it" Blaine shrugged. "It doesn't bother me anymore. It helped me a lot, actually. That's how I became Sebastian's friend. He was an asshole at the beginning. He hated everything and everyone, but when he learnt the truth about me, he opened up a little. He is a good guy."

"I guess" Kurt smiled. He didn't know much about Sebastian. The boy rarely talked to him and even then he was rude. But if Blaine was right about him, it was understandable. He had had a pretty bad life as Kurt knew.

"I hope I will see my parents one day" Blaine said quietly.

"You want to talk to them?" Kurt asked.

"No. Not really" Blaine said. "I want them to go through all the pain I had to. I want to show them how horrible it is when the whole world is against you and even your loved ones betray you."

Kurt pulled away from him. He didn't mean to, he didn't want to show Blaine how horrified he was but he couldn't help it. It seemed like Blaine had two sides. One of them was the gentle boy he loved, who brought him flowers and planned a better future with him where there was no violence just peace and love. And then there was this guy… The sad man with so much anger and pain in his heart that it scared Kurt. He didn't want Blaine to do something stupid or dangerous and he certainly didn't want him to hurt people. But sometimes it looked like Blaine would be ready kill and torture people. Just like those who had hurt them and were now searching for them. But if they did so, would they be any different from those people? Kurt was afraid that it would only make them monsters.

"My sweet angel" Blaine muttered as he watched Kurt. "I have no idea what you are still doing here. We both know that you won't fight on our side."

To Kurt's surprise, Blaine stood up and left without another word. The boy stayed there alone, his eyes still on the door, in stunned silence. He never knew what to expect from Blaine. And he wasn't sure if fighting for them was worth it anymore.


	10. Chapter 10

Blaine's words made Kurt think a lot about the two of them. After spending almost an hour in stunned silence where Blaine had left him, Kurt made his way back to his room, hoping that his father wouldn't see how badly he felt. It wasn't like he was angry with Blaine. Although he was hurt and confused, he knew that Blaine was right about him. He didn't want this. He didn't want to hurt people or watch them get hurt. Kurt wanted nothing but a peaceful life with his loved ones. He knew he was naive, he believed in miracles, he believed that people could actually see them as they were, regular people, just like everybody else. He was so stupid. Maybe Blaine was right and he should leave. Blaine wasted an awfully lot time for him, all for nothing. Because they couldn't get what they wanted, not until they won the war against the government. Even then it wouldn't be sure that they could be together as they wanted. Kurt was afraid that it would change both of them and they wouldn't be able to get through their difficulties.

But he loved Blaine. That side of Blaine that always made his heart beat faster, the boy who made him forget about his fears, about the cruelty of the world. Kurt didn't want to let it go. He wasn't ready for that. But what was he supposed to do? Was he strong enough to fight on Blaine's side? Could he actually hurt anyone? Damn, it was so hard...

"You won't find out, unless you try" his father told him one day. Maybe he was right. Kurt had been so careful not to get involved in Blaine's work, maybe he should try to get to know him and his people better. Who knew, maybe they could use his help.

"You were wrong."

Blaine looked up from his laptop to find Kurt leaning against the doorframe, a strange new light in his eyes.

"I have no idea what you are talking about" he said.

"You were wrong about me" Kurt said as he took a few steps towards Blaine, trying to seem as determined as possible. "I'm not weak. Maybe I don't agree with you in everything but it doesn't mean I won't fight if I have to."

Blaine was surprised. He opened his mouth but nothing came out. Kurt almost snorted. He had thought that Blaine knew him but he certainly didn't. He was a Hummel and he could be really strong and stubborn if he wanted to.

"I want you to teach me" Kurt said determinedly. "I want to be able to defend myself and others when it comes to that point."

"Are you sure you want that?" Blaine asked.

"Yes" Kurt said as he stepped forward. "Teach me how to fight."

Blaine gulped nervously. Although he liked that Kurt wanted to be able to defend himself, he was… he was Kurt. His Kurt, his beautiful, innocent Kurt. He didn't want him to lose that. Because he certainly would if he became someone like Blaine.

"What do you want to know?" Blaine asked carefully.

Kurt seemed to hesitate at that. Blaine smirked. Of course. Kurt might have gathered his courage to come up with this fancy speech about strength, but Blaine knew him. He wouldn't be able to hurt a fly but Kurt didn't have to know that Blaine knew that. It would cause them trouble again and he didn't want Kurt to push him away. He was glad his boyfriend was back, even if he had treated him like shit over and over again. Some training surely wouldn't hurt. Kurt would learn how to defend himself and they could spend more time together. Blaine certainly needed Kurt in his life. He was almost unbearable when the boy wasn't around. He had no idea how Kurt did it but he brought out his better side. The one that had been lost for such a long time. Yeah, he wanted to teach Kurt. He wanted it so badly.

"You know what? We could start it now" he said.

"Now?" Kurt asked with wide eyes.

"Sure" Blaine smiled. "I'm free and I guess you have nothing else to do either, so…"

"Okay" Kurt said, his voice shaking. Blaine found it really cute. "I'm in. Just let me change clothes."

"Of course" Blaine nodded.

As he waited for Kurt to come back, Blaine tried to figure out what to teach him. He didn't want to scare Kurt away again, not after the struggles of the previous days. Their relationship was so complicated, he didn't want another fight. He just wanted long talks, romantic dinner, and yeah, training with Kurt a little. He imagined grabbing Kurt's arm and pulling him close. He imagined as Kurt struggled in his grip, every movement of him bringing them closer to each other, until they were all over each other, their bodies so close that there was no space between them at all. Blaine imagined as Kurt's body reacted on his own, as it accepted that they were meant to be together. He imagined bringing Kurt down onto his bed, gently climbing between his legs, pressing kisses all over his body and listening to the soft moans of pleasure that escaped Kurt's lips...

"Blaine?" 

Blaine opened his eyes and turned scarlet when he realized that Kurt was standing in front of him, dressed in comfortable clothes, seemingly ready for the training. Blaine certainly wasn't that ready, at least not for that. He glanced down and sighed in relief that his desk covered his lower body, hiding his hard cock from Kurt's sight.

"You okay?" Kurt asked.

"Sure" Blaine said, trying to be as casual as possible. "Uhm… I have some more work to do. Why don't you go down to the gym and warm up a bit?"

"Okay" Kurt said uncertainly. He could tell that something wasn't right with Blaine, he just didn't know what it was.

At least he didn't ask more questions. Blaine waited until Kurt left his room, then rushed to the door and locked it securely while his free hand was already working on the button of his jeans. Damn, he had no idea what was going on with him. He usually didn't act like this. He could stay calm in every possible situation, but when he was with Kurt… Even one look of Kurt made his body react like this. There was definitely something wrong with him.

Blaine run down the stairs to the gym after having a quick shower and getting into fresh clothes, getting rid of the evidence of what he had just done up in his room. Kurt was already there, facing away from him, stretching his limbs. Blaine gulped nervously as his body started to react at the beautiful sight again and quickly closed his eyes to think about something horrible, not giving his body any chance to repeat the happenings from before. As he opened his eyes again about a minute later, when he was sure the danger was gone, he found Kurt standing right in front of him, looking at him questioningly.

"Are you alright?" Kurt asked in concern.

"Sure" Blaine said quickly.

"You are acting strangely" Kurt pointed out.

Blaine sighed heavily. If Kurt had known… But as much as he wanted to talk to Kurt about his feelings, he knew he couldn't do that. Kurt was so innocent, he would be scared of him. Blaine couldn't let that happen. So he forced out a bright smile and tried to seem as normal as possible.

"How much do you know about self defence?" Blaine asked as he stepped away form Kurt and made his way to the mattress.

"Close to nothing" Kurt admitted. "I was bullied in high school but… I usually just ran away."

"That's not bad, actually" Blaine said. "I'm gonna teach you a few things but you can only use them if you think you can overpower your opponent. When you deal with somebody a lot stronger than you or even with more people, running is not a bad idea. Getting help could be more useful than getting into a pointless fight."

"So you think I should just run away?" Kurt frowned.

"If it means you survive then yes" Blaine nodded. "I'm gonna teach you how to use a gun but first you have to learn self defence. Let's start with the basics. Try to hit me."

"What?" Kurt asked with wide eyes. "I-I don't want to hurt you..."

"I never said I would let that happen" Blaine smiled. "Come on. Attack me."

Kurt took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment. Blaine watched him as the boy gathered his courage and finally made a move towards him. Kurt moved slowly and uncertainly. Blaine got out of his way without trouble and moved to the other side of the room.

"Come on, Kurt. Catch me" he said.

Kurt ran at him but slowed down again before he could reach Blaine. He raised his arm this time, maybe he tried to hit him, Blaine wasn't sure, but he was too slow again. He hesitated. Blaine decided that it was time for his first lesson. He grabbed Kurt's arm and held it steadily while he kicked the back of Kurt's knee and brought him down onto the ground.

"Not a bad start but you hesitate too much" Blaine said. "Alright. Stand up."

Kurt stood up quickly and waited for Blaine to tell him what to do. The other boy stepped away from him and motioned for Kurt to attack him again.

"Don't be scared of hitting me" Blaine said. "You won't hurt me. Come on. Do it."

Kurt tried again but as the previous time, he slowed down before reaching Blaine, so the other boy caught him easily and brought him down onto the mattress once again.

"Too slow. Again" Blaine said.

Kurt was breathing heavily but he didn't stop. He tried to hit Blaine over and over again but he didn't even get close. Blaine caught him way too easily and before Kurt could blink, he found himself on the ground again.

"I don't get it" Kurt said in frustration. "I'm trying so hard but I can't even touch you. How is it possible?"

"You are scared" Blaine said honestly. "You hesitate because you don't want to hurt me."

A sudden idea crossed his mind and he said it out loud before he could think about it.

"Don't be weak" he said.

It made the trick. Kurt pressed his lips together in anger as he rose to his feet again.

"I'm not weak" he said.

"Show me, darling" Blaine said as he bowed.

Yeah, that was it. Kurt surged forward again and Blaine couldn't see the hesitation in his eyes like before. He was determined to hit Blaine this time and he didn't stop or slow down for a second as he approached him. It didn't mean he could cause any damage, Blaine got out of his way quickly, but he was a lot closer this time.

"Very good" Blaine nodded. "Let's do this again."

This time as Kurt approached him, Blaine decided that it was time for the next step. He grabbed Kurt's wrist and twisted his arm behind his back. Kurt moaned in pain but Blaine didn't let go of him. He made sure he didn't hurt the boy but held his arm steadily while he put his other arm around Kurt and pulled him close.

"Try to break free" he whispered into Kurt's ear.

Kurt struggled in his grip but it was too weak. Blaine didn't even have to hold him too tightly. 

"It's not enough" he told Kurt. "You have to make me loosen my grip on you, so you can slip out of it."

"How should I do that?" Kurt asked.

"Kick my leg, for example" Blaine shrugged.

Kurt tried to do so but he wasn't even close to that.

"Okay, it's not working. Let me go" Kurt said in the end.

"So you are giving up?" Blaine asked.

"Yes" Kurt said in frustration. "You won."

He waited for Blaine to release him but it never happened. His grip just became tighter than before if it was possible.

"Blaine, I said let me…"

"I heard you" Blaine said. "But I won't let you give up. Fight."

"I don't want to" Kurt said.

"You want to learn how to defend yourself? Surprise, Kurt. It's not as easy as it first sounds" Blaine said. "Fight."

"I can't!" Kurt said desperately. He didn't like where they were going with this. Blaine's reaction scared him.

"Fight" Blaine said again.

"Let me go, Blaine!" Kurt said in fear.

Blaine had no idea what happened to him. He heard Kurt's voice, he could tell that he was scared but he still couldn't make himself move away from him. He held Kurt steadily, his grip so tight that he was close to cause some serious damage, but he still didn't move. 

Not until Kurt started crying.

It had happened before, a few times, but he had never hurt anyone he loved. He had hurt people who worked for the government, he had killed some of them, injured a lot more, but he had never hurt someone he loved. And now here he was, hurting the person he loved the most. Blaine jumped back as if Kurt's skin burnt his own, staring down at his hands with wide eyes, horrified by what he had just done. He could hear Kurt cry quietly in the background but he couldn't make himself look at him. He slowly backed away from the boy, scared of what he could do to him.

"Blaine?"

Kurt was scared. He was scared of him, because Blaine had hurt him. He would never go near him again. Kurt would avoid him for the rest of his life, he would leave this place and never look back. He would never be Blaine's ever again… All because he had caused him pain. Because he couldn't control his body, his mind, his emotions that had been poisoned by those camps and the people working in them. It wasn't like he didn't know about it. He had seen the signs before but he had thought that having Kurt around would change things. He had been definitely wrong. God, how could he be so stupid? He could have killed Kurt. He could have broken his bones, he could have broken his neck and nobody would have stopped him. He was a monster. 

"Blaine, you okay?" Kurt asked as he made his way to the other boy.

"Don't… don't come near me" Blaine said quickly. "I don't want to hurt you."

"Blaine, it's okay…" Kurt started as he reached out towards Blaine but he jumped back as Blaine pulled away and started yelling.

"Get away from me!" Blaine screamed desperately as he backed away from Kurt until his back hit the wall. "Get out of here, fast."

"Blaine…"

"I'm a monster. Can't you see that?" Blaine cried. He collapsed to the ground and pulled up his knees as he dig his fingers into his hair, pulling it painfully. He deserved the pain. God, he deserved so much worse…

Gentle hands grabbed his wrists and pulled his hands away from his hair. Blaine opened his eyes to find Kurt kneeling beside him. He looked into his eyes, searching for the signs of fear but he couldn't see anything like that. Just that nice, innocent boy he had fallen in love with. There was no sign of anger in his eyes either. Kurt… he seemed like he understood him. Better than Blaine understood himself.

"It's okay" Kurt said gently. "I'm here and I will help you."

"I don't… I don't want to hurt you" Blaine cried.

"I know" Kurt said. 

"I'm so sorry" Blaine whispered, looking away again.

"Blaine, I'm not angry with you" Kurt said.

"You should be" Blaine said. "I-I wanted to stop… I did but… God, what's wrong with me?"

"Blaine you have gone through some horrible things. Probably more than anybody else in this place. It's completely normal that you are not the same person you used to be" Kurt said.

"I'm a monster" Blaine said again. "I didn't want to hurt anyone at first. But now I'm just like them. I'm a horrible person."

"No, you aren't" Kurt said. "Don't blame yourself. You might have done some things wrong but you are not a bad person. You have saved so many people. You have given them a chance for a new life. Those people love you."

Kurt fell silent for a second and took a deep breath.

"I love you" he said.

Blaine looked into his eyes again. He didn't believe that Kurt said the truth but those blue eyes never lied. Kurt really loved him. But why? How could he love someone like him?

"I won't let you down" Kurt said. "I'm here and I will help you get through this."

"Why are you so nice to me?" Blaine asked.

"Because you are a good person, Blaine. Even if you don't believe it" Kurt said. "I believe in you. And I believe in us. We will make this work. I promise."

"I'm not sure we can" Blaine sighed.

"But I am" Kurt said confidently. "Just give me a chance to help you."

How could he say no? There was no way. He was madly in love with this boy and he could never say no to him.

"Okay" Blaine whispered.

That beautiful smile… It made him feel alive again. He had no idea how Kurt did it but he made him feel like noone else could. Yes, Blaine would change. With Kurt. For Kurt. For a future where he could be happy with this amazing boy.


	11. Chapter 11

Blaine looked at the sleeping form of his boyfriend in his arms and sighed. Boyfriend. Although they had never said it out, they were together. No, it was a lot more than that. Kurt was… Blaine couldn't really describe what Kurt meant to him. He was most certainly more than just a boy he loved. Kurt was his partner, his best friend, the only person who understood him. Kurt was his savior. And he felt like he couldn't live without him.

After the horrible event of a few years earlier, Blaine had thought that he lost Kurt. He had been an asshole after all, he had hurt the boy, it would have been completely understandable if Kurt didn't want to see him ever again. But Kurt didn't give up on him. It seemed like that day only brought the two of them closer.

Once Blaine was able to open up to someone, he couldn't stop talking. He had never trusted anyone enough to tell everything about himself. But Kurt was different. He had seen his real side way before Blaine had told him anything about himself. Kurt knew him without a word. It felt like they had known each other forever. Kurt knew how he felt, what bothered him, he knew everything about him. It was nice. Blaine had lived his whole life in fear. Now he finally had someone who truly understood him.

It bought them closer in different ways. Maybe because Blaine trusted him and Kurt felt it, he let Blaine closer to him, both mentally and physically. It was nice. Really-really nice. Although Blaine was very careful when he was around Kurt, he couldn't hide how Kurt made him feel. He loved what they had. He loved having Kurt in his arms while watching romantic movies, he loved the soft kisses, the gentle touch of the other boy. Blaine felt so wonderful when he was around Kurt. He felt like he wasn't a monster.

He looked at Kurt again. They had fallen asleep in his bed the previous night, after talking for hours. It was nice, although Blaine was afraid that Kurt would freak out once he woke up. He didn't want to disturb him in his sleep, though. Kurt had told him that he had had trouble with sleeping. He often had nightmares about the camp and couldn't sleep much. Blaine understood how he felt. He had the same problems after all.

His phone beeped suddenly and Blaine climbed out of the bed to read the text he had gotten. He smiled as he went through the short message. He had a surprise for Kurt and he was sure that the boy would like this one. Just a few more hours and he would make his boyfriend smile again. And while making Kurt happy, he could distract him as well. He felt bad for keeping things from Kurt but he had a very good reason to do so. He had to keep him safe, no matter what happened. Maybe Kurt would be angry with him for this but he would understand with time. Blaine only did this to ensure a better future for the boy he loved.

~ o ~

"I hate surprises."

Blaine smiled as he led Kurt down the stairs. He was in a really good mood. Although Kurt had seemed surprised when he had woken up in Blaine's bed, he hadn't freaked out. He had been worried about what his father might think about them now that he had spent the night with his boyfriend but he had decided to act normally and explain things to his father if he had to. Blaine knew that it wouldn't come to that. They would be too busy anyway, Burt would just forget about the night when he saw his surprise. Just like Kurt. 

"We are almost there" Blaine said.

Kurt sighed and followed Blaine. What else could he do? He didn't like when his boyfriend was so mysterious but he also knew that Blaine wouldn't tell him anything. So he followed him without a word, hoping that he would find out what Blaine's surprise was as soon as possible.

To his surprise, his father was waiting for them, seemingly just as confused as Kurt was.

"Jeff told me to meet you here" Burt said. "Is it about last night, boys? Because I have to tell you, I'm really…"

"I have a surprise for you" Blaine said hastily. Kurt's dad could be really scary sometimes. "They are waiting for you in there."

"They?" Burt asked with a raised eyebrow.

Blaine smiled and opened the door for them.

"Burt! Kurt!"

Kurt couldn't even process what he was seeing because a moment later he found himself in a familiar embrace. He froze for a second, unable to believe that it was really happening. He pulled away from the woman after a while and looked into her eyes. But it was true… She was really here.

"Carole?" Kurt asked quietly.

"Yes, honey. It's me" Carole smiled at him.

"Carole." Burt's voice was barely more than than a whisper as he hugged the woman he loved.

Kurt stepped back and watched them in silence, giving them all the time they needed. They certainly needed a lot. After weeks they had spent apart, Burt and Carole couldn't stop hugging each other, crying quietly. Kurt felt so bad. He had caused this for his family after all. He was the reason why his father had been brought to that camp and torn away from his loved ones. If he had been careful enough...

"Hey, dude."

Kurt smiled weakly as he turned to look at Finn who was standing in the background, seemingly uncomfortable. Suddenly, Kurt felt the same. He knew Finn and what he thought about people like him. He was surprised to see him here. Finn wasn't a huge supporter of people like him.

"You okay?" Finn asked as he stepped closer.

"Yes" Kurt nodded.

"We were worried about you" Finn said. "We tried to find you but they didn't tell us where they had brought you. They didn't let us visit you."

"We were brought to the camp" Kurt said.

"God, it must have been so…" Carole's voice died and she pulled Kurt into a hug again.

"It's okay. We are fine" Kurt muttered. "We weren't there for too long. Blaine and the others helped us escape."

Carole let go of Kurt and stepped to Blaine. Kurt smiled as the woman pulled Blaine into a hug, much to Blaine's surprise. He watched Carole with wide eyes, seemingly unable to say something. No wonder. Kurt knew that Blaine had never had such a connection to his own parents. It was probably the first time he was treated like this.

"Thank you. For everything" Carole said gratefully.

"I'm always happy to help" Blaine said.

"I know" Carole smiled.

"Blaine contacted us" Finn explained. "He told us that you were fine and that we could meet you if we wanted to."

"And if we proved him that we meant no harm" Carole said, turning to look at Blaine again.

"It's the usual process" Blaine shrugged.

"You could have asked me about this, Blaine" Kurt said. 

"My son is right. We know our family. They would never do anything to hurt us" Burt said in agreement.

"It doesn't matter anymore, right?" Blaine said. "They are here and if I understood Carole perfectly, they are not going anywhere."

"Of course not" Carole said and turned back to her family. "We are finally together again. No one can take this from us."

"I'm gonna leave you alone" Blaine said as he took a few steps backwards. "Your other room will be ready soon. I'll show you everything later. Enjoy your time together."

Before he could go, though, Kurt ran to him and grabbed his arm. As Blaine turned back around, Kurt pressed his lips to his. Only for a second, knowing that his family was watching them, but he wanted to let Blaine know how glad he was for this surprise. It was everything he needed.

"Thank you" he said.

"Everything for you" Blaine said with a bow and raised Kurt's hand to his lips to kiss it before he turned to leave.

"He seems like a real gentleman" Carole commented when Blaine left the room. Kurt turned back and nodded.

"He is" he said.

~ o ~

Kurt felt like he was the happiest person of the world. Everything seemed so beautiful, he had everything he had ever wanted. His family seemed happy and so was he. Not to mention that he finally had someone in his life, somebody he loved so much, who understood him more than anyone, even his father. Yeah, he was such a lucky boy.

It was so easy to get used to this new life now that he had everything he needed. It didn't bother him that he barely saw the sunlight anymore, he felt great in this underground place because he didn't feel lonely anymore. Days passed a lot faster and he just enjoyed his life. Apparently, it didn't seem like everyone felt the same way.

"When will we go home?" Finn asked one night the Hudmels spent together in Carole and Burt's room. Now that they were together again, they changed rooms, so Finn and Kurt share done to give their parents the privacy they needed.

"We can't go home, Finn" Carole replied.

"Why not?" Finn asked.

"Because there are people after us and they'll capture us if they find us again?" Kurt offered.

"They are after you" Finn pointed out. "We were fine until we left. Nobody bothered us."

"Honey, this is the only way to be together" Carole said gently. "Going home would be dangerous. Those people would hurt Kurt and Burt and there's a chance that they would catch us, too. We have to stay here where it's safe."

"Why couldn't you hide it better?" Finn asked as he turned to Kurt. "We had a perfect life before you decided to play gay."

"Finn!" Carole gasped.

"We never had a perfect life" Kurt said. "I don't play gay, Finn. This is who I am. And believe me, I never intended to let anyone know about me."

"Sure" Finn rolled his eyes.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kurt asked.

"Oh, come on. I'm not blind. I saw how you looked at me" Finn said, shaking his head. "At least you could have tried to hide it. It would have been better for everyone."

"I tried" Kurt said again. "Do you think it was fun to be locked up and tortured every single day? Because I can tell you, it wasn't. I was scared. I was worried that they might kill me. If Blaine hadn't saved us…"

"He didn't save you or any of us!" Finn said. "What do you think will happen to us if those guys find us? They'll kill us all!"

"Blaine tries to help us" Kurt said.

"No, he tries to get new soldiers for his army. You are stupid if you buy his lies" Finn said.

"That's enough!" Burt roared. "Stop fighting, both of you!"

"He started it!" Kurt shouted.

"Calm. Down" Burt said slowly. "Look, Kurt, I don't think Finn chose the right way to share his thoughts with us, but he might be right in some things."

"Excuse me?" Kurt asked in disbelief.

"We want you to be happy. Both of you" Burt said, looking from one boy to the other. "Carole and I talked about it and we might have found a solution."

"Blaine can help us move to another town" Carole said. "A place far away from here where the government can't find us."

Finn and Kurt looked at each other for a moment. It was clear that none of them liked the idea.

"What about my friends?" Finn asked.

"I won't leave Blaine behind" Kurt said at the same time.

"Just listen to us!" Burt said quickly. The boys fell silent again and he took a deep breath before continuing. "We want you to be safe and the only way is the leave. It's just the matter of time and the government'll find this place. We can't be here when it happens."

"I can't believe you are saying this" Kurt said, shaking his head. "You said that you wanted to fight. That you would stay here and help these people…"

"I changed my mind" Burt said seriously. "I want to help them, Kurt, but my family is the most important. I can't let any of you get hurt. So we are leaving."

"No" Kurt said stubbornly. "I'm staying. I won't leave without Blaine."

"Yes, you will" Burt said, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "I won't let you do anything stupid. We'll move to that town and start a new life. It's final."

"You can't tell me what to do" Kurt said.

"Yes, I can" Burt said. "I'm sorry, Kurt, but I have to protect you and I will, even if it's not what you want."

"I'll talk to Blaine" Kurt said. "He'll help me. You can't force me to leave when..."

"Blaine agrees with us" Burt said. "You can ask him if you want but he'll tell you the same."

"I don't think so" Kurt said. He turned around and stormed out of the room.

Burt sighed heavily as he watched his son leave. He knew it was hard for Kurt now but he wanted the best for his child. Kurt would understand him sooner or later and they could discuss everything. Or so he believed.

"Just give him time" Carole said gently. "He'll accept our decision."

"I hope so" Burt sighed. Because he wouldn't leave his child behind, even if Kurt would hate him for this.

~ o ~

Blaine sighed heavily as he listened to Cooper. He had had a great plan to stop the government but it looked like everything was against him. Nothing worked the way he needed and he was getting desperate. What if they wouldn't be able to attack in time? That couldn't happen… They had to make a move before it was too late.

"How many people do we have?" he asked.

"Not enough" Cooper answered. "A lot of them left in the past few weeks. They are worried about their families, they don't want to fight."

"This is for their sake" Blaine muttered. He couldn't believe that people gave up so fast.

"You have to understand them. They don't want to risk losing their families, especially those we saved from the camps" Cooper said.

Blaine shook his head. Yeah, he should have understood but he couldn't. He was tired of fighting. He wanted a real life himself, he wanted to be with Kurt and live in peace. But he also knew that it wasn't possible without changing the world. He had to do something, fast.

"Then we'll fight with what we have" Blaine said in the end.

"You can't be serious" Cooper said with wide eyes. "We would all die! We…"

"We are running out of time!" Blaine shouted. "How many people have to die before we do something? I'm tired of waiting. I want to save everyone I can and I will, with or without your help."

"Hey, calm down" Cooper said. "What's wrong, little brother?"

"Nothing" Blaine muttered, looking away. It wasn't true. He had talked to Burt earlier that day and they had made a very hard decision. But it had to be that way. That was the only way to keep Kurt safe.

"I know you. Something is bothering you" Cooper said.

"I'm fine" Blaine said.

"No, you aren't" Cooper said. "Tell me."

Blaine looked at his brother, unable to decide if he should talk to him or not. He wanted to. He had to talk to someone about this because he couldn't keep it in himself anymore. He opened his mouth before he could stop himself.

"Kurt's leaving" he said.

"What? Are you serious?" Cooper asked. "But I thought you two…"

"We are" Blaine nodded. "That's why he has to leave before it's too late. I talked to his father and convinced him to move with his family to a safe house. They'll start a new life there and they'll be safe."

"Does Kurt know?" Cooper asked.

"I guess Burt already told him, yes" Blaine nodded.

"And what does he think about your idea?" Cooper asked.

"It doesn't matter" Blaine said. "He has to get away from me before it's too late."

"What? But…"

"Kurt's innocent, Cooper" Blaine explained. "I-I can't let anything happen to him. There's only one way to keep him safe, to get him out of here. So I will, even if he'll hate me for this."

"You are crazy" Cooper shook his head. "Kurt loves you and you love him, too. Why the hell would you send him away from here?"

"Because, as you pointed it out, I love him" Blaine smiled sadly. "It's just the matter of time and people'll realize how much he means for me. They'll try to use him against me. I can't let that happen."

"I don't think it's what you should do" Cooper sighed.

Before Blaine could reply, the door opened and Kurt stepped inside, seemingly upset. His eyes widened when he realized that Blaine wasn't alone and he hesitated.

"Come in, Kurt" Blaine said. "Cooper's leaving."

"Am I?" Cooper whispered to him.

"Yes, Cooper" Blaine said as he stood up, grabbed his brother's arm and gently pushed him towards the door. "We'll talk later."

"Don't do this, Blaine" Cooper hissed.

"Bye, Coop."

Blaine pushed Cooper out of the room and slammed the door shut. Kurt frowned as he watched him. Blaine's reaction surprised him, he almost forgot about his own problem.

"Do you want to talk about something?" Blaine asked, running his fingers through his hair. He knew what Kurt wanted to talk about and he knew that Kurt wouldn't like what he was about to say.

"Yes" Kurt said as he stepped to him. "I had a talk with my family. They want to leave."

"I know" Blaine nodded.

"So it's true. My dad talked to you" Kurt said.

"I talked to him about my idea, actually" Blaine admitted. "I want you to leave."

"What?" Kurt gasped.

"Look, Kurt. What we had was nice but…"

"Stop!" Kurt shouted. "I won't buy this again. Don't tell me you want me to leave because you got bored of me. I might have believed that before but I know you now. Tell me the real reason why you want me to go."

Blaine smiled sadly. Kurt was clever, of course he didn't believe him. But he couldn't tell him the truth. Kurt would be worried about him, he wouldn't leave but he had to. What Blaine was about to do was dangerous and Kurt couldn't be near him when it happened. He had to get him to safety before doing anything.

"I'm not lying" Blaine said. He took a deep breath and walked back to his chair, preparing himself to face Kurt again. "I've been thinking a lot about the two us lately. I'll be honest. I like you, Kurt. You are a nice boy and I enjoyed our time together but this has to end. I have to lead my people and you distract me. I can't be with you anymore."

He hated to see the pain in Kurt's eyes but it had to be done. For Kurt's sake.

"Please, Blaine. I…"

"You'll find someone who loves you" Blaine said. "You are a good person, Kurt. You deserve someone who can give you what you need."

"I thought you loved me" Kurt said, fighting back his tears.

"I tried" Blaine said. "I really did but… I guess we aren't right for each other."

"I can't believe you are saying this" Kurt said. He lost the battle. He tried so hard to hold back his tears but it didn't work.

"I'm sorry" Blaine said quietly. "I guess I should have been honest with you from the first moment."

Kurt pressed a hand to his lips as he took a few steps away from Blaine. The other boy didn't even look at him. It was the best for both of them. Kurt had to accept his explanation and go with his family. Even if Blaine wanted to look into those beautiful blue eyes so badly, knowing that he might not see them ever again, he couldn't. Because Kurt would know that it was all just a lie.

A few seconds later, Kurt turned around and ran out of the room. Blaine's heart broke into a million pieces as he heard Kurt's loud sobs but he forced himself to stay still. He let Kurt go because he had to. To give him a chance for a better life.

"I'm so sorry" he whispered.

Maybe one day, if they managed to get their freedom back. Maybe if he survived, he would be able to find Kurt again and tell him how he felt. Maybe Kurt would forgive him and they could be together. But until then… Blaine had to risk his own life to change the world. But he would do that knowing that the boy he loved was safe. And if he got out of this alive, he could think about his own future.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone!  
> Here is the new chapter. Enjoy!

Burt watched his son in worry. He had thought that moving to a new home would solve all of their problems but it looked like it made everything worse. Kurt was depressed. He spent most of his days in his room, he never left the house and barely joined their conversations. He didn't say anything, he just sat there, staring in front of him. It was so bad to see him like this.

Their new home was beautiful, though. Blaine had made sure they got the best place possible, with enough rooms for everyone, with a huge garden, close to everything. It was a lot better than their previous place and it looked like most of his family was happy here. Even Finn who had been lonely at first but since Burt allowed him to work in his new car shop, he seemed to find his place. Carole stayed home for now since there was no suitable job for her in the small town and they had decided to try to live from Burt's salary, at least until they figured out how to live this new life. Carole made a wonderful job at home. She cleaned the place, rearranged the furniture, decorated the common areas and took care of the flowers in the garden. She cooked every single day, so when Burt and Finn got home, the delicious dinner was already waiting for them in the kitchen. Soon the boys would start attending school again and everything would be back to normal. They didn't have to be scared anymore because their neighbours had gone through the same horror, just like most people in the town. They didn't have to hide or lie anymore. It was amazing.

Well, it would have been if he could see his son smile again. Kurt certainly didn't feel well here and Burt was so worried about him. He didn't know much about the conversation Kurt had had with Blaine but when his son had returned to them after that, still crying, he had known that Blaine must have told him something horrible. He had surely hurt his son's feelings but Burt wasn't angry with him. Even if it hadn't been his intention, Blaine had helped him. He had made Kurt leave somehow, without another word. Burt was so grateful for that.

Or at least he had been. But a lot of time had passed since that night and Kurt still didn't talk to anyone. He started to get worried about his child and it made him think about how Kurt might feel. He should have thought about it earlier but there had been so much going on around them and time had passed so quickly… He had made a mistake but he believed that it wasn't too late to make it better. Kurt didn't trust people easily, so he needed someone he could talk to. The only person he trusted unconditionally. His father.

Burt took a deep breath and knocked on Kurt's door. There was no answer. He knocked again. Nothing.

"Kurt, I want to talk to you for a second" Burt said.

Kurt still didn't answer him.

"I won't let you do this" Burt decided and opened the door without waiting any more.

Kurt was lying in his bed, turning away from him, so Burt couldn't see his face. He walked to the bed and sat down beside the boy. Kurt finally turned back to look at him and Burt gasped when he saw how pale and tired he looked. It just made him more worried than before.

"Are you alright?" he asked. It was a stupid question but what could he do? He wasn't really good in this…

"No" Kurt said honestly.

"You can't stay in here forever" Burt said gently. "Do you want to come to the shop with me? We could spend some time together, I could show you everything, we…"

"I don't want to go anywhere" Kurt said quietly.

"I can't let you hurt yourself" Burt said. "Look, I know it hurts…"

"Do you?" Kurt asked as he sat up. "Do you have any idea how I feel? I trusted him, Dad. I loved him. But he just used me. I was good for him when he needed me but then he just threw me away."

Burt was pretty sure that it wasn't true. Although he didn't understand Anderson either, he believed that there was something more behind the breakup then what they knew.

"I'm sure there is a better explanation...'"

"I don't know" Kurt muttered.

"Either way, you can't stay in here forever. You have to go to school soon and I want you to get to know this place a little better before that happens. There people are nice, Kurt. You should give them a chance" Burt said.

"I don't want to be here" Kurt said.

"I know" Burt nodded. "I get that, really. But we don't have a choice. We can't go home."

Kurt didn't need to be reminded. He knew very well that they were here because of him. Nobody told him that, not even Finn, probably because their parents had talked to him about it, but Kurt knew that he was the cause of their misery. They had lost their lives because of him and he felt so guilty. He didn't want to go downstairs and face the others, knowing that they had had to give up everything because of his stupid mistake. And it hadn't even been worth it… He had been happy, for a little while, but then he realized that nobody needed him. Nothing had changed. He was just an outsider like before.

"I'm sorry, Dad" Kurt said.

"Why?" Burt frowned.

"Because I did this to you" Kurt said. "I ruined everything and I'm so…"

"Hey, stop" Burt said seriously. "You did nothing wrong. Stop blaming yourself."

"I wasn't careful enough" Kurt continued.

"You acted like every teenage boy" Burt said. "There's something wrong with the world if people can't even look at others. And we know better than most people how very wrong this world is."

"Do you think they can change it?" Kurt asked.

"Blaine?" Burt asked.

"Yeah" Kurt nodded. "We talked a lot about it. I didn't agree with him because I didn't think that we could make things better by acting like the government. But I'm not sure anymore. I've seen so much cruelty that I can't believe in a peaceful future anymore."

Burt sighed heavily. What could he say? Kurt was right. Their world was cruel and changing it… Well, it seemed almost impossible. But they had to believe that things could change.

"I believe that there are people out there who see what you really are. A normal teenage boy, just like everybody else" Burt said gently. "And there are more and more of them who want to change things."

"Is it enough?" Kurt asked.

"It has to be" Burt said. "Maybe not tomorrow, but things will change. One day, you'll be able to live in this world like everybody else. You'll go to college, you'll find a nice boy who loves you and you'll get married and have kids. I believe in that."

Kurt sighed sadly as he looked at his father.

"I wish you were right" he said.

And he wasn't the only one. Burt wanted to see his son happy so badly. He wanted to ensure a safe future for him. Unfortunately, he had no idea what he could do. 

~ o ~

Sebastian glanced at Blaine, leaning over the papers on his desk. Blaine was so weird since Kurt had left. He didn't talk to anyone unless it was necessary, he spent most of his time locked up in his room and he avoided his brother completely. Something wasn't right with him and it surely wasn't just his breakup with Kurt. No, there had to be something more. Sebastian was dying to know more but he didn't want to be the shoulder Blaine could cry on. He just wasn't that type.

"Do you see something interesting?" Blaine asked as he looked at him.

"You look awful" Sebastian said honestly.

"I'm fine" Blaine muttered.

"Sure" Sebastian said. "So what's your plan? Will you stay here forever and snap at everyone who just looks at you or will you gather your courage and go after him?"

Blaine decided to do as usually: he simply ignored Sebastian's question and tried to focus on the reports in front of him. Too bad, Sebastian didn't seem to get that he didn't want to talk. He leaned forward, his eyes never leaving Blaine's face.

"He left. What do you want me to do?" he asked in frustration.

"Let's see… Go after him?" Sebastian offered.

"I don't know where he is" Blaine said.

"That's a lie" Sebastian replied.

"He doesn't want to see me anymore" Blaine continued.

"Why?" Sebastian asked.

"Because I told him horrible things!" Blaine almost shouted.

"You mean you lied to him?" Sebastian asked with a raised eyebrow. He knew his friend, probably better than anyone else. "Kurt didn't leave because he wanted to, right?"

Blaine turned away and closed his eyes.

"You idiot" Sebastian shook his head. "Why did you do that?"

Blaine groaned in frustration. He so didn't want to talk about this with Sebastian.

"It's the best for both of us" Blaine said in the end. "He doesn't belong here. He hates violence, he hates weapons, he…"

"He's willing to learn because he loves you" Sebastian cut in, shaking his head. "But you threw everything away. I want to know why."

"Because I have to keep him safe!" Blaine shouted.

Sebastian fell silent for a long moment. He didn't really understand Blaine's reasons. He knew that his friend loved Kurt. And he knew that Kurt loved Blaine. So he didn't understand why Blaine had lied to the boy and sent him away. It didn't make any sense.

"You are doing the biggest mistake of your life" Sebastian said finally.

"You don't know a thing" Blaine muttered.

"Is that so?" Sebastian asked with a raised eyebrow. "Something isn't right with you, I can see it. You barely talk to anyone…"

"Then what am I doing right now?" Blaine cut in.

"Trying to get me leave you alone. It's not working, by the way" Sebastian said. "What I'm trying to say, you're not thinking straight. You are careless because you are distracted and it's not good for any of us."

"I'm still your leader, Sebastian" Blaine said seriously.

"Not too long if you don't stop acting like a moron" Sebastian said.

"Are you threatening me?" Blaine gasped.

"No. I'm trying to help you, friend" Sebastian answered. "Look, Blaine, we are close. Closer than ever. We have to be very careful if we want to win this battle. If you screw this up because you can't get Kurt out of your head, we'll fail. All of us."

"So you want me to forget about him?" Blaine asked in confusion. That wasn't what Sebastian had said earlier.

"No. I want you to decide what you want" Sebastian said. "You want him? Then get him. But don't lie to us. Believe me, I'm not the only one who noticed that something is wrong with you. If you lie to us, people won't trust you anymore but we need them to trust you unconditionally. We need them all or we'll lose."

"I thought you believed in me" Blaine said, rolling his eyes.

"I did" Sebastian nodded. "When you believed in a better future. Do you know what I think now? That you gave up. That's why you sent Kurt away. Because you don't want to win this battle. You are tired of it. It's okay, be that way. But you can't sacrifice all of us because of your stupidity."

"You know, you are right in one thing. I'm tired. I'm tired of people not trusting in me. Can you hear yourself? I. Saved. You. I saved all of you and that's what I get in return?" Blaine asked.

Sebastian groaned in frustration. Blaine didn't want to listen to him. Or anybody else. He had shut them out the moment Kurt had left and it seemed like he wouldn't change. But if they didn't do something fast, Blaine would get all of them killed.

"I'll never forget what you did to me. That's why I'm trying to help you" Sebastian said as he stood up. "Just think about my words. I want to help you. I'll be there if you want to talk to someone but don't expect me to take part of your suicidal mission. I'm not sure what you want anymore but I know one thing for sure. I want to survive. I want my life back. And I will fight for it."

Blaine opened his mouth to say something but Sebastian left before he could say a word. Blaine growled and reached for the first thing he could get that turned out to be the book he had read the previous night and hurled it across the room, towards the place where Sebastian had disappeared from his eyes.

"You don't know a thing!" he shouted.

A little voice in his head told him that Sebastian might have known more about him than Blaine did but he silenced it immediately. He was a stubborn man who never listened to anyone. Well, not anymore. There had been a sweet angel in his life who had made him open up and share his most well-hidden secrets with him. He had done that to Kurt. He had let him know everything about him, all of his weaknesses, his fears. Kurt surely didn't even know how close Blaine had let him. That was the most important reason why he couldn't allow him to stay close to him anymore. It was stupid of him, he knew. That was why he had let himself believe that he had done the right thing. That it was the best for all of them. But deep inside, he knew that Sebastian was right. He had become a good leader, he had gotten so close to his dreams because of Kurt. Because he had been there for him in his darkest hours and he had helped him get through everything. And now… he was lost without him.

Blaine sat back down, took a deep breath and buried his face into his hands, trying to calm down. When his heartbeat slowed down a bit and he was able to breath properly again, he opened his drawer and pulled out a photo. A photo of the most beautiful person of the world. He didn't have much left of Kurt but he had saved this photo as a reminder of the boy he had lost. He wanted to remember how beautiful Kurt was, how innocent and pure. That was all he could have of him right now, even if it hurt so much to be so far away from him.

He gave himself some time to get lost in his sweetest dream, about a future where he and Kurt could be together without fear. Where he bought Kurt flowers, took him out for dinner, travelled with him to places none of them had seen before, where they lived together, had great jobs, kids… Everything possible. He dreamt about that so often, he had everything planned and he knew that it could work. Well, he had thought so. Sebastian was right, he had lost his hope the moment Kurt had left. He had tried to believe that things could get better but as time passed, he started to give up. He couldn't let that happen. They were so close, he could practically feel it. But he couldn't fail this time. He had to get himself back together because if he failed, his people would be lost with him. Not just his people. The government would find Kurt and his family and they would kill them for sure. Blaine wasn't stupid, he knew that people already knew about them and Kurt would die because of him if somebody caught him. He couldn't let that happen.

He had to win this battle.

He had to stay strong.

"I wish you were here" Blaine whispered to the photo. "It was so much easier when you were here for me. I didn't even realize how much you helped me. I miss you so badly."

He hoped that at least Kurt was fine. He had made sure to get him and his family a nice house, Kurt surely loved that place. Yeah, he was fine there. He surely got new friends at school and he was able to smile again. He would forget about this hell soon and he would be able to have a normal life.

And maybe he would forgive Blaine one day, when it was over. Blaine hoped that it wasn't too late. As everybody else, he had his own reasons to be here. Sebastian had told him that he had wanted to survive. Well, Blaine wanted that, too. He wanted to live long enough to see Kurt safe again. Just for one moment, he would gladly die to make this world a better place if it meant seeing Kurt again. And he would do it. He needed a reminder, but he believed in a better future again. He would be strong and lead his people. He would change the world. He would do everything he had to.

For Kurt.


	13. Chapter 13

Kurt couldn’t make himself leave the bed. He tried, he really did, but he couldn’t find a reason why he should get up and do anything at all. Life seemed so dark… so empty. He wanted to be happy. He wanted to start a new life with his family and enjoy the newly gotten freedom, go out with friends, go to school again… He wanted everything Blaine had gotten them. But he couldn’t be happy when he knew that his friends were still in danger and they could die any day and he wouldn’t be there to save them.

Okay, it was stupid of him. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to save anyone, he would die first, because he wasn’t able to hurt anyone and if the government found him, he would have no chance against those people. But still… He wanted to be there. Just to make sure Blaine didn’t do anything stupid and all of their friends were safe. 

But Blaine didn’t want him to be there and ruin everything. He remembered what the other boy had told him. That he distracted him, he didn’t let Blaine do his job and he made everything harder for him. Blaine didn’t want to see him again because Kurt ruined his chance to change the world. Damn, it hurt so much. More than anything Blaine had ever told him. He had thought that Blaine had loved him. He had opened up to him, only to let his heart being shattered. He couldn’t act like everything was fine anymore. He wasn’t sure if he would be able for that at all.

"Dude, you should get up" Finn said as he stopped in front of Kurt’s room. "Mom said that we should go out a little until they come back."

"I don’t want to" Kurt said.

"Look, I know you are angry with Blaine but…"

Kurt sat up on his bed to face the other boy.

"You know nothing!" he said. "You don’t know anything about those people. Damn, you don’t even know me! Because you never bothered to get to know me at all."

"That’s not true!" Finn said. "I left my home, my friends behind, only to be with my family. Do you know how hard it is for me?"

"Yeah, it must be horrible for you" Kurt snorted and turned away again.

"It is" Finn said as he stepped closer to him. "Do you know how much I miss my life? Oh, no, you don’t. You got what you wanted after all. I don’t understand why you aren’t happy. You have everything you wanted."

"Are you really that stupid?" Kurt asked in disbelief. "You keep whining about your oh, so perfect life you lost when you came here, but you forget how much others suffer out there. Believe it or not, I care about them, too. I’m worried about them. So no, I’m not happy. I don’t have everything I need because what I need is a place where people like me could be safe."

"You are safe here" Finn said.

"No, I’m not!" Kurt shouted in frustration. How could Finn be so stupid? "Don’t you see it? This is just temporary. If Blaine and the others fail, the government will find us again and then…"

"Then we will be dead" Finn nodded. "Only because of you."

Kurt shook his head and smiled sadly. He couldn’t believe that Finn was such an idiot. How could he not see that it wasn’t his fault that the world was so cruel?

"You should open your eyes to finally see what’s going on" Kurt said gently. "You can blame me all you want but it doesn’t change the fact that those people kill everyone who isn’t normal by their standards. Not because of me but because they are lunatics who want to destroy half of the population. Why? I have no idea. But that’s going on in the world right now."

Kurt took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair before he was able to continue.

"My friends are risking their lives to show those people that we aren’t monsters. Yes, I’m worried about them. I’m scared that they can get hurt and I can’t be there to do anything. So excuse me if I don’t act like everything is fine. Because it isn’t" he said. "I’m sorry if you don’t like to be here. It wasn’t my decision. You decided to get in touch with us, so don’t blame me for screwing up your own life."

"Those people only want to help you…"

"How can you be so blind?" Kurt shouted. "Help us? Do you know what those people did to me? And I should be happy because I didn’t get hurt too much. Do you have any idea what’s going on in those camps? What I had to see? No, you have no fucking idea because you don’t care!"

"I do care…"

"Do you? Do you even remember your friends who died because of them? Do you remember what happened to Mercedes? Or Artie? Or Becky? Or any other kids who disappeared and never came back? You wouldn’t say that they wanted to help us if you remembered any of them!"

Finn was speechless. Kurt had never talked to him like this, he had never really yelled at him so angrily. He had never told him the truth like this.

"When I was brought there, there was a little girl" Kurt said quietly. "She was so small… Innocent. And they killed her. They short her right in front of everyone and we had to watch it."

"Oh, my God" Finn whispered.

"I saw her die" Kurt cried. "I saw how her parents broke down and I couldn’t do anything to help them. Not if I wanted to stay alive. Blaine told me to look away but I still saw… I’m sure I’ll be able to get that picture out of my head. Not anymore."

He felt so tired out of sudden. He had to sit down onto his bed and then he buried his face into his hands. Life wasn’t fair. Finn was right in one thing, they shouldn’t have known how cruel the world was. They were too young for that. They were supposed to be happy and careless like normal teenagers. They shouldn’t be here, scared of losing their lives and the people they loved.

Finn took a few tentative steps towards him. He raised his hand as if he wanted to put it on Kurt’s shoulder but the other boy pulled away.

"I didn’t know" Finn said quietly.

"Yes, you did" Kurt said. The anger from before was gone from his voice, though. "You just didn’t care."

Finn sighed sadly and stepped away from him. Kurt was right. And it hurt so much.

~ o ~

Blaine tried to shut out the quiet voices around him. They were ready or at least he hoped they were. It was time to attack but the others didn’t seem as certain as he felt. He could see the fear in people’s eyes and he could hear him whisper behind his back. He pressed his lips together in anger. What was wrong with these people? It was their time to change their lives. Why didn’t they trust him?

"Blaine, I think we should talk" Cooper whispered as he stepped to his brother.

"No" Blaine said determinedly.

"Just look around. They aren’t ready" Cooper said.

"Then they should leave" Blaine said.

"I think we should discuss this" Cooper said.

"There’s nothing to talk about" Blaine said. "We have to strike, now. If we hesitate any longer, they’ll win."

"This is crazy!" Jeff said as he joined them. "Look, Blaine, I never questioned your decisions…"

"Then why don’t you trust me now?" Blaine asked.

"Because you are out of your mind" Jeff replied.

Blaine sighed in frustration and shook his head. He had no idea what was wrong with his friends. It wasn’t like they hadn’t done something like this before. They had attacked several camps and they had gotten away with it. So why would they stop now when they were so close to change the world?

"It’s gonna be okay" Blaine said. "It’s not like we are doing this the first time..."

"It’s different" Cooper said. "Look, Blaine, I want to help those people. Believe me, I do, but what you are asking for…"

"Those people are going through hell right now, Cooper" Blaine said seriously. "We have to help them. Now."

"I think we should do it the usual way" Nick said as he joined them. "We know nothing about that camp. We have no people inside, there’s no one to help us, if we attacked now and we get caught…"

"We have more people on our side than before" Blaine said. "I won’t wait any longer. We are attacking. Today."

Without listening to any of his friends, he stepped forward and looked at the people in front of him. Some of them were scared, he could tell. Okay, a lot of them were scared but it didn’t change anything. They had to attack. So he would just convince these people that they could do it. Together. Just like before.

"I know you are scared" he said. "This is new for a lot of you but you can trust me. This is not the first time we attack a camp and we always got away with it so far. We’ll do it again. We’ll help those people and get them out of there."

Two men started whispering on his right side and Blaine turned to look at them immediately.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked.

"Yes" one of them said. "They say that you know nothing about the camp. That you changed the plan and want to attack without getting a few people inside like before."

"That’s right" Blaine nodded. "We do things differently this time."

"Why?" the man asked.

"Because I can’t risk people’s lives more than necessary" Blaine explained. "I did it before. I let myself get caught, just like my friends. We spent weeks in the camps, so we learnt how many people they work with and where we can attack."

"Why don’t you do it again? If it worked…"

"Yes, it worked. But we paid the prize" Blaine said. He pulled up his shirt and slowly turned aorund, so everyone could see the scars on his chest. "We let them beat us. We let them torture us, they almost killed us several times. I let is happen because we didn’t have another choice. We didn’t have an army like we have now. We had to attack them from inside. But it’s going to end. We are ready to face them, we don’t need tricks to win this battle. We’ll free those people and then we’ll attack the other remaining camp as well before they have time to prepare for the attack. Once we are done with the camps, we can turn against the government."

"Are you out of your mind?" one man gasped. "We-we can’t turn against them…"

"Do you want to be free?" Blaine shouted. "Then you have to do something for it. We have to show those people that we aren’t weak. We’ll fight for our rights and win."

He closed his eyes for a second and took a deep breath to calm his nerves. 

"I won’t force any of you to fight on our side" he said quietly. "If you want to leave, leave now. The rest of you get ready. We’re making a move tonight."

With that said, he turned around and left. His friends looked after him for a while, too stunned to talk. It was Cooper who spoke up first. He turned to Sebastian and leaned closer, so only a few people could hear him.

"You have to talk to him" he said.

"Why me?" Sebastian frowned.

"Because you’re his best friend and he’ll listen to you" Cooper said. "I already tried to talk to him but he doesn’t want to hear my opinion."

"I also tried to talk to him. Guess what? He’s not interested" Sebastian said. "I think we have to decide if we want to go with him or not. He won’t stop here for sure."

"So we don’t have a choice" Jeff sighed. "We can’t leave him, not right now. He would do something stupid."

"But we have to be careful" Sebastian said. 

"So what should we do?" Nick asked.

"You two stay here" Cooper said. "If something goes wrong, you have to get people to safety and make sure the government can’t find this place. Get rid of the files and when everything is done, leave the states."

"What about you?" Nick asked in concern.

"I have to take care of my brother" Cooper said. "I have to be there to protect him."

"Me, too" Sebastian said. "Somebody has to stop that idiot before he does something crazy."

"You don’t have to do that" Cooper said.

"I want to" Sebastian shrugged. "Blaine helped me when I was in trouble, It’s time to return the favor."

"Just be careful, guys" Jeff said. "We can’t lose you."

Sebastian looked at Cooper and he knew he thought the same. He had a bad feeling that this wouldn’t end well but people only listened to Blaine because he was their leader. They had no time to convince them to turn against him, not that it would lead them anywhere. They had to stick together, more than before, or they would fail.

~ o ~

Kurt was more upset than ever after his talk with Finn. It brought back too many bad memories… He remembered being locked up, being scared, and then he remembered what it had been like to be with Blaine. The boy had helped him through everything, they had talked so much, they had talked about a future together… A future that would never become true. Not anymore. Because Blaine didn’t want him.

Kurt tried to understand Blaine’s feelings, he really did, but… Okay, maybe he was selfish. Blaine’s work was important, he tried to help people, a lot of people like them, to ensure their future. But Kurt didn’t want to lose him because of that. He wanted to be with Blaine, be happy with him. He had a stupid idea about going back and telling Blaine that he would stay with him and fight on his side but he convinced himself that Blaine didn’t want that. Blaine had told him that he didn’t want Kurt to be there. Because he distracted him. He ruined everything.

Kurt sighed heavily and turned on his back, facing the ceiling. Blaine’s words had hurt so much. They had come so suddenly, when he had thought that everything would be fine. Maybe that was what hurt the most. Blaine hadn’t even given him a chance to solve their problem. He had decided what to do on his own and talked to Kurt’s dad behind his back, without asking the boy how he felt. Kurt had thought that there was something more between them. Maybe he had been wrong. Maybe Blaine had liked him but he hadn’t been capable of more. He had seen so much horror, it must have killed something in him. And now it was over. Maybe Finn was right and he should move on, try to live his own life. He was young, he could forget about Blaine. He had to. Because he was pretty sure that he couldn’t live like this anymore.

Suddenly, the door of his room opened and Kurt was brought back from his thoughts. He sat up quickly and turned towards Finn, opened his mouth to send him away, but the look on Finn’s face stopped him.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You should come downstairs. Now" Finn said.

Kurt jumped out of the bed and followed the other boy downstairs. Their parents were sitting on the couch, hugging each other when they arrived, their eyes glued at the TV in front of them.

"What’s going on?" Kurt asked as he turned to them for a moment before looking at the TV like the others.

His heart stopped for a moment when he realized what was happening. They were watching the news. It wasn’t a surprise, their parents always watched it together but what he saw on the screen… He recognized the faces immediately. It was Blaine whom he saw first. Blaine, struggling in two men’s grip, chained and shouting something they couldn’t hear. Kurt felt like he was going to be sick. Blaine was caught. He was caught by those horrible people and brought somewhere… Maybe another camp. But that wasn’t everything. Because behind Blaine, he could see other familiar faces. Cooper. Sebastian. People he had met back in the safe house. Something was very wrong.

"They attacked two camps on the same day" Burt said carefully as he watched his son turn paler and paler with every passed second. "They succeeded the first time but…"

"They caught Blaine" Kurt whispered.

"They knew what they were planning" Burt said. "The government had people working for them on Blaine’s side and…"

"What’s going to happen to them now?" Kurt asked desperately.

"They want to stop the resistance for once and for all" Carole said.

"What does it mean?" Kurt asked. He was scared of the answer but he had to know.

"They’ll kill them" It was Finn who told him in the end because nobody else felt strong enough to tell Kurt the truth, knowing how he felt about Blaine.

In that moment, Kurt collapsed. Finn reached for him immediately and Burt jumped up as well, so they caught Kurt before he could fall to the ground. Kurt grabbed his father’s shirt and buried his face into the familiar material as he began to cry. He had been worried about Blaine before but it was a lot worse this time. He felt so desperate but also so useless. He wanted to help Blaine but he was just a boy… He could do nothing. They would kill Blaine and the others and he had to watch it because he was too weak… 

"It’s okay, Kurt" Burt said, rubbing his son’s back. "It’s gonna be okay."

"How?" Kurt shouted. "He’s going to die! Just like the rest of them! They’re going to kill all of them and then hunt the rest of us down! How could somebody betray them? Blaine only wante dthe best for us!"

"I know" Burt said and glanced at Carole before turning back to his son. "But you have to trust me."

"I’m sorry, Dad" Kurt shook his head as he pushed himself away from his father. "I can’t trust you or anyone else anymore. You keep saying that everything will be okay but things just get worse. I-I can’t take anymore. I’m sorry but I can’t."

His words turned into loud sobs as Kurt turned around and ran out of the room, the others looking after him. For a long moment. Because then, instead of going after his son, Burt took a deep breath and turned to Carole.

"Call Jimmy" he said. "We have to do it."

"Are you sure?" Carole asked in concern.

"Yes" Burt said determinedly. "But we have to get the kids out of here first."

"What’s going on?" Finn asked in fear.

"I’ll tell you everything later" Burt said. "Now pack your things and tell Kurt to do the same. We’re leaving."

Finn turned to his mother with wide eyes. He didn’t know he wanted to hear from her, probably that he didn’t have to be scared and everything would be fine, but Carole’s eyes told him that it wasn’t that simple. He didn’t want her to lie to him, so he simply nodded. Whatever was happening to them, they had to stay together and face it as a family. Family… Finn smiled sadly as he walked up the stairs. It was funny that he had never considered themselves as one, not until their lives were in danger. But now they had to act like one if they wanted to survive.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone!  
> I'm finally back home after an exhausting but amazing conference, so here is the new chapter, enjoy!  
> This one might be hard to read because of its content, so be prepared.

Blaine had thought that he knew what pain was like but he had to admit that he was wrong. So, so wrong. What he had to go through now was nothing compared to what he had felt before. There was no break, there wasn’t a single moment it stopped torturing him. There was that constant feeling that made him want to scream, to beg for death and he wasn’t sure how long he could take it.

It was his fault, he knew it. His friends had begged him to stop, to be more careful but he hadn’t listened to them. He had been desperate and stubborn and now he had to deal with the consequences of his horrible decision. Not only him, he reminded himself. There were other people suffering because of him. His brother. Sebastian. All those people who had trusted him and had been caught because of him.

He deserved to die… No, he deserved this pain first. He had to suffer for what he had done to those people. Because it was all his fault. He tried to remember where things had gone wrong. He had planned everything and he had thought that it could work, even if his friends hadn’t believed in him. He had done it before after all and he had succeeded every time. What had changed? How could things take such a horrible turn? How had he ended up here, all alone, locked up in this small cell with only his horrible thoughts and fears? 

He wasn’t sure. He remembered attacking the first camp and taking people to safety. He remembered getting ready for the second attack and getting to the camp. He remembered his dreams about stopping the government for once and for all and finding Kurt again. He remembered what he wanted to tell the boy, how he wanted to get him back. But then, nothing. Just screams of fear and so much pain.

His head cleared out a bit after a while and although he didn’t remember much, he knew that he had been betrayed. Somebody he had trusted had betrayed him and his people. That was how those people had known about them and had been ready for their attack. That was the only explanation. He hadn’t been careful enough. And now they were lost.

Blaine wasn’t stupid enough to think that his father would save him this time. He had caused so much trouble for the government that there was no mercy for him this time. They wouldn’t let him live anymore and they certainly wouldn’t risk letting him go again, knowing that Blaine would return and attack them again. No. They had decided to kill him this time and there was nowhere to go for him. He had been caught and it was just the matter of time that they would kill him. Slowly, painfully, probably in front of his people to scare them. His friends, too. Everyone he loved, everyone he cared about. They were lost because of him.

And Kurt… He wouldn’t see Kurt ever again. He had believed that there was hope for them, that they would be able to be together again. Now that hope was lost. Blaine was lost. He wouldn’t be able to see Kurt, not anymore. He would die, knowing that he had hurt the boy so badly the last time. It was worse than the pain. His body could take all the pain but his soul… It needed Kurt so much. Especially now that Blaine was scared, truly scared like never before. He wanted to hold Kurt in his arms, feel his warmth, his scent, hear his gentle voice, just one more time before he died. But it wouldn’t happen. He had to say goodbye to this world knowing that Kurt still hated him and never found out the truth. 

A horrible thought crossed his mind and Blaine moaned in pain as he tried to sit up, desperate to fight again. He had to get up and find a way to get out of here, fast. How could he be so stupid? He should have thought about it earlier. Damn, it should have been his first thought after he had woken up. He had lost precious moments if not more time thinking about his own misery but he had forgotten that Kurt was in danger as well, probably in more than any of them because he didn’t even know what was waiting for him. That man, the one who had caught Blaine and beat him up, he had told him. He had said that they would find everyone Blaine had gotten to safety and punish them just like everyone else. They knew about Blaine’s hiding and it was just the matter of time that they found the files. Blaine had stupidly gathered information about every family he had saved because he liked reading about them when he couldn’t sleep at night, it helped him calm his nerves, knowing that those families were safe and happy. He had files about Kurt’s family as well. It was what he read the most because he missed Kurt so much. 

But if they found his files, they would find out where Kurt was. It was just the matter of time and they would go after him and catch him. Blaine wasn’t sure how much those people knew about him and his love life but if they knew about Kurt, they would torture him as well. Maybe they would take him to Blaine to torture and kill him in front of him. Yes, that had to be their plan. They kept him alive for some reason and certainly not because they wanted him to live. No. They wanted him to suffer. He had to survive because they were preparing him for something bigger, something that would kill him for sure.

Blaine moaned again as he pushed himself up from the ground. He was in so much pain that he was worried that he might pass out. He must have broken several ribs, he had a head injury and who knew how much more. He couldn’t tell. His whole body was in pain, so they might have broken a lot more bones. Maybe he was dying from internal bleeding. Something certainly wasn’t right, not only because he could barely move from the pain but as he coughed, he saw something new appear on his shirt. Fresh blood. Shit.

Trying not to panic, Blaine took a deep breath, preparing himself to stand up. He had to talk to someone and do something to save the others. Especially Kurt. He had to find out how much those people knew because if they knew about Kurt, Blaine had to find someone to help him. Kurt had to know that he was in danger, that was the most important. He could survive everything but that. He couldn’t lose Kurt… He was innocent. Damn, Kurt was the purest person of the whole world. 

But as he tried to pull up his knees and get up, pressing his hands to the wall to support him, he realized that he couldn’t move his legs. He couldn’t even feel them.

"No" he whispered.

Now he was certainly sure that he was going to be sick. Damn, he shouldn’t have looked down at all. He had seen some horrible things before but this… He couldn’t believe how he couldn’t notice that earlier. It was impossible. His legs were broken, both of them, it was clear from one look. They looked horrible. Blaine was worried if he could stand on them again at all. But then something else scared him. He should have felt pain, a lot of pain in his legs. It should have hurt more than anything, considering that his legs looked the most injured. But he didn’t feel anything. There was no pain. There was absolutely nothing.

"No. Please, no" he cried.

It was over. He couldn’t save Kurt or anybody else. He couldn’t even move from this spot. He was trapped and he could do nothing but to wait for his death.

~ o ~

"Do you think he can hear us?"

"No" Cooper said as he glanced at Sebastian and then turned back to his brother, too worried that something might happen to Blaine if he turned away again. Something more horrible than before.

"He needs a doctor" Sebastian said.

"Don’t you think I know?" Cooper shouted in frustration and slammed his hands onto the bars keeping him away from his brother.

Sebastian decided to keep his mouth shut, at least for a while. Cooper was clearly in no condition to talk, not to mention Blaine… Blaine looked horrible. They all had their injuries but what had happened to Blaine… It was worse than anything he had ever seen. 

He remembered when they had been brought here and locked up in their separated cells, three men had stepped into Blaine’s cell, two of them had held him down and the third one… Sebastian remembered him from the first camp. He was a horrible man, probably the worst of all. He had loved torturing them. And it seemed like he didn’t change since then, maybe he became more cruel than before. And Blaine was his punching bag.

Sebastian closed his eyes and tried to get the horrible pictures out of his head. It was hard, especially since the prove that it had happened was right in front of him. Blaine was awake but he wasn’t really conscious. They had tried to talk to him but he didn’t hear them, he never replied. And his injuries… Sebastian knew what they meant.

"He’s dying" he said quietly.

"No" Cooper shook his head.

"Look at him, Cooper" Sebastian said. "I think you should… you should say goodbye before…"

"He’s not dying!" Cooper shouted.

Sebastian took a step away from the man. It was funny. He knew that Cooper couldn’t even touch him because of the bars separating them but the man’s eyes were filled with anger and as he turned to look at him, Sebastian couldn’t not be worried. Cooper seemed ready to attack anyone who talked ill about his brother. He didn’t understand that Sebastian only wanted to prepare him for the inevitable. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to be positive but one of them had to be rational. Blaine was seriously injured. He had several broken bones, his body was covered in bruises, he coughed up blood. Sebastian didn’t need to be genius to know that his friend would die if he didn’t get medical help. And he certainly wouldn’t get that here. They weren’t even allowed to make it a little easier for him. So Sebastian could do only one thing: he had to prepare Cooper for the moment when his brother passed away. 

He took a deep breath and turned to look at Blaine again. Blaine had sat up somehow and now was leaning against the wall, staring down at his legs. He kept whispering something Sebastian couldn’t hear but he knew that it was about his injuries. Blaine’s eyes were wide, he was seemingly scared and close to pass out. Maybe it would be the best for him...

"Blaine, can you hear me?" Cooper asked hopefully.

"Kurt" Blaine said, a little louder this time, so they could both hear him.

"He’s hallucinating" Sebastian said.

"Blaine, It’s me, Cooper" Cooper tried again. "It’ll be fine, little bro. Just hold on, okay?"

"Kurt" Blaine muttered again and slumped back against the wall.

Sebastian sighed heavily. So this was waiting for them all. He wasn’t an idiot, he knew that they would all die. This time they had gone too far and these people wouldn’t let them escape again. Maybe it was just Blaine now but it was just the matter of time and they would both follow him. And maybe the others, too. Sebastian didn’t know anything about the other people, it was only the three of them who had been taken here but they must have been close. 

"We have to get him out of here" Cooper said.

"And how exactly do you want to do that?" Sebastian asked. 

"Jeff and Nick" Cooper said. "They surely know what happened to us…"

"And you gave him orders" Sebastian said. "They know what they have to do. They won’t come here. They’ll get rid of everything and disappear as you told them."

Cooper sighed sadly. He regretted that decision now. He should have had a better plan. He should have known that things could go wrong and they needed help. But it was too late. They had nobody to help them.

"You are here" Blaine said suddenly as he turned to look at his brother.

"Of course I am" Cooper said gently. "And I’m not going anywhere."

"Don’t hate me" Blaine continued. "I didn’t… didn’t mean to… I lied. I still love you."

"He’s talking about Kurt" Sebastian said.

"I know" Cooper nodded. Blaine was too far gone. He didn’t know where he was and he couldn’t hear them. Not anymore.

"Please, forgive me" Blaine whispered.

"We have to do something" Cooper said desperately. "We have to help him!"

"We can’t do anything" Sebastian pointed out.

"There has to be a way!" Cooper shouted.

Suddenly, the door in front of them opened and they both turned towards it. They didn’t know what to expect, probably one of those bulky men or more, maybe it was their time to follow Blaine’s example. But it wasn’t someone they expected. As the door opened and Cooper recognized the person stepping through it, he gasped.

"Dad?"

John Anderson looked around in disgust. He looked at his younger son at first, grimancing, than he turned to Cooper. He took a few steps towards him but stopped in safe distance as if he was afraid that his son might hurt him.

"I never thought I would see you like this" John said.

"Dad, you have to help us" Cooper said quickly. "They hurt Blaine. He’s badly injured, he needs a doctor…"

"He got what he deserved" John said calmly. Too calmly for such a situation.

"Are you out of your mind? Look what they did to him" Cooper said.

John looked at Blaine again. The boy was lying on the ground with closed eyes, quietly muttering something none of them heard. Cooper watched his father, searching for a sign that he was worried about Blaine. He couldn’t find any.

"You have to do something" Cooper said again.

"I tried" John said as he turned back to his older son. "You know that I paid for them to keep Blaine alive. Even when he escaped. Many times. But he’s gone too far this time. He has to pay."

"He’s your son!" Cooper shouted.

"Not anymore" John replied. "I thought that he could change but I know the truth now. He’s lost. There’s nothing these people can do to cure him."

"Cure?" Sebastian snorted. "Blaine’s not sick."

John glanced at him now.

"You’re like him" he said.

"Yes" Sebastian said. "My parents are idiots like you."

"How dare you…"

"This isn’t a sickness, how can you not understand?" Sebastian shouted, getting the anger of years out on the man. "We. Are. Not. Sick. You can’t cure us because we can’t change! We aren’t gay because we want to be but because we were born like this."

"Many of you were cured" John said.

"Many of us were terrorized" Sebastian corrected him. 

"It’s the same" John said.

"You know what? I think I changed my mind" Sebastian said. "My parents aren’t as bad as you are. Yes, they are stupid but at least they aren’t as disgusting as you."

John stepped closer to Sebastian’s cell and slammed his hands down onto the bars.

"Watch your tongue, boy" he said.

"Or what?" Sebastian challenged. "I’m not scared of you. They’ll kill me anyway, so it doesn’t matter what you think about me."

"I can make your death quick or slow and painful" John said slowly. "Don’t underestimate me."

"Dad, just stop" Cooper said tiredly. "why are you here if you don’t want to help us?"

John finally turned back to him and smiled.

"I’m here because of you" he said.

"Me?" Cooper asked in surprise.

"You don’t belong here" John continued. "You’re not like them. I know you only wanted to help your brother and I’m willing to forgive you. I can get you out of here if you promise that you will stop helping them."

"What?" Cooper asked with wide eyes.

"You are so talented, Cooper" John said. "It would be such a waste to let you die."

"You want me to leave Blaine behind and go with you? You want me to act like nothing happened?" Cooper asked.

"It’s not as hard as you think" John said. "A few weeks and people will forget about this incident. Once Blaine and his little army won’t be around anymore, no one will care. You can get your life back."

Cooper watched his father in silence. He didn’t even consider his offer because it was simply disgusting. He would let Blaine die without trouble and he asked Cooper to do the same. He had known that his father was cruel but this… It made him sick.

"What do you say?" John asked after a while.

"Go to tell" Cooper said quietly.

"What?" John asked, seemingly surprised by Cooper’s reaction.

"Sebastian’s right. You’re disgusting" Cooper said. "I don’t want to see you anymore. Now leave."

"I don’t think you understand…"

"I said leave!" Cooper shouted.

"Fine!" John said as he took a step back. "Be that way. But you should know, you’ll all die. They’ll kill you in front of the others to show them what happens to those who ignore the laws."

"I guess it’ll be the best day of your life" Cooper said, shaking his head.

"Believe it or not, this isn’t what I want" John said.

"Only because you don’t want to be ashamed of us" Cooper said. "What will your friends think about you? We ruined your perfect family image."

"You did" John nodded. "Was it worth it?"

"It was" Cooper said without hesitation.

"You are so stupid, son" John shook his head.

"I’m not your son. Not anymore" Cooper replied.

"Be that way" John said in the end and slowly stepped away from them. When he reached the door, he looked at Blaine’s still form one more time and then stepped through the door without looking back at his sons again.

"You fucking asshole!" Cooper shouted when the door was closed behind his father. He fell to his knees and started to cry.

"Don’t cry, my sweet angel" Blaine whispered.

Cooper looked at his brother and it made everything a lot worse. Blaine was dying and their father had left them, he hadn’t even tried to help the boy. And now Blaine had no chance to get out of here.

"At least he doesn’t know what’s going on" Sebastian said gently.

He was right. Maybe Blaine was the luckiest of them. He was too far gone to see how cruel the world was. And if things went well, he wouldn’t have to go through more torture. He would die before those monsters could hurt him again.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone!  
> Here is the new chapter. It might upset you, so be prepared.

Cooper hadn’t cared much about death before. Sure, he had thought about it sometimes when they had been too close to be caught but only for a few seconds. And that was all. He was still too young to die after all, his time hadn’t come yet.

And still… Here he was, locked up in a cell beside his brother who was already dying, waiting for his own death to come. It was just the matter of hours, if he could trust his father. He usually didn’t believe the man but now he had a bad feeling that John had said the truth. The guards were way too nice to them, at least those who spent the most time with them. There was a young woman and a man who brought them water and some food. They didn’t say anything but it seemed like they really cared about them. Cooper appreciated it, especially when they let him join his brother in his own cell. He didn’t need anything more in that moment, just to be close to the younger man.

Blaine was in horrible condition. He was barely awake and even then he didn’t seem to understand a thing. He usually kept his eyes closed and muttered incoherently. Sometimes he cried, sometimes he smiled. He certainly didn’t know where they were or what was going to happen to them.

Maybe Sebastian was right and it was the best for him. Although Blaine suffered a lot more than they would, he didn’t have to go through this hell. He was already gone in a way. And in a few hours, his suffering would come to end. Just like their lives.

Cooper sighed and tried to shut out his thoughts about death. He was scared, but it wasn’t the right time to worry about himself. Blaine needed him. They would both die, there was no question, but he couldn’t waste this little time they had left for himself. He had to spend it with Blaine until they had the chance.

Cooper sighed and pulled Blaine close. His brother was asleep – or unconscious? - again, he didn’t move at all. His breathing was steady, though, much to Cooper’s relief. Earlier that day, Blaine had coughed so badly that Cooper had been afraid of losing him in that moment. Now Blaine seemed so peaceful. It gave him strength, too. If Blaine didn’t feel pain anymore, death couldn’t be that bad. They would just get over with it, like they had done with everything else. Together. They could do it.

Suddenly, the door opened and Cooper looked up to see the men who was responsible for Blaine’s injuries standing in front of him. They smiled at them, seemingly enjoying the fear in his eyes before two of them stepped forward and grabbed Cooper’s arms.

"No!" he shouted desperately. "Please, don’t do this."

"You’ll die for your sins" the leader of the group said seriously.

"I know, okay?" Cooper said hastily. "Just let me help him. He’s… He’s already dying. Please, just let me spend this remaining time with him. I won’t try anything, I swear."

The man stepped forward, seemingly thinking about Cooper’s words. The man started to hope that he would let him help Blaine but then the soldier raised his fist and punched him hard in his face. Cooper hissed in pain and would have lost balance if the other guards hadn’t been there to keep him still.

"Take them" the leader said.

"No! I have to stay with my brother!" Cooper shouted desperately as two men grabbed Blaine and pulled him away from him.

"Cooper!"

Cooper looked up at Sebastian who spoke up for the first time in hours. He was pale and seemed scared as he watched the other man. He didn’t have to say a word to know what Sebastian wanted. He could beg all he wanted, these men wouldn’t listen to him. But if he remained silent, maybe they would let him be with his brother for a little more before they actually killed them.

So he kept his mouth shut as they were led out of the small cell, then up the stairs and into another room. Then they stopped. Cooper looked around in confusion. This was the last place they saw? Because it looked horrible. He had hoped that they would be allowed to see the sunlight one more time before it actually happened. He wanted to see it so badly, feel the wind on his skin, look up at the sky one more time… Small things he had never appreciated before but seemed so important now.

He took a deep breath and looked at Blaine, his limp body hanging in the arms of two bulky men. He sighed heavily as he watched his brother. Although he was scared, at least Blaine didn’t have to suffer anymore. He deserved to get over with it as soon as possible. Those long hours they had spent downstairs had been awful. Blaine had been in so much pain, it had been horrible to see it. But now he was completely still, maybe not even alive anymore. His poor little brother… He had promised himself so many times that he would keep Blaine safe and still… He wasn’t enough for that. He felt awful for not being strong enough to get Blaine out of here before it was too late. He should have been able to keep his promise. He should have done something. He should have...

"What are we waiting for?" Sebastian asked suddenly. It was the first time Cooper realized that he was there with them.

Sebastian seemed surprisingly calm for the situation. He was standing there proudly, the signs of fear nowhere to be found. Cooper wished he could feel like that, too. He didn’t want to seem weak.

"For the audience" the leader of the group said. "Don’t worry, we’ll get over with this whatever happens. You’ll die today."

"Sure" Sebastian commented.

Cooper looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Was it how Sebastian dealt with his fear? It was amazing.

"It’s time" the man beside him said after a while. "Let’s go, boys."

"Chin up" Sebastian whispered to him as they were brought closer to each other. "Don’t show fear."

Cooper wanted to point out that it was over, there was no point to act like everything was fine anymore. But maybe Sebastian was right. They would die anyway, at least they shouldn’t give these people the satisfaction to see them weak.

They were led out of the room and up another row of stairs. Cooper didn’t really pay attention, he kept his eyes on his brother to make sure nothing happened to Blaine. Not that it mattered. They all knew what was waiting for them, Blaine would die anyway. No, he shouldn’t think about that. Blaine would have been so much stronger than him in that moment. He would tell him to be proud of their work and die with dignity. Yeah, that was what he would do. He could do it. He knew he could.

It looked like a whole crowd gathered in front of the building. There were dozens if not hundreds of people around them and they all watched them in silence as the three men were led up the podium in the middle. Sebastian snorted as he looked around as if he wasn’t satisfied with what he saw.

"No hanging today?" he asked.

"We’re not in the middle ages" one of the soldiers told him.

"Seriously?" he asked.

"I guess they’ll just shoot us" Cooper said.

"You are right" the soldier said.

"I see you didn’t think too much about how you should kill us" Sebastian said.

"Do you have a better idea?" the man asked.

"Sebastian, not the right time" Cooper hissed.

"Why? It’s not like we have much more left" Sebastian shrugged.

Cooper took a deep breath and chose to watch his brother instead. He was right, these were their last moments. He didn’t care about anybody else, just Blaine. He was the only one who mattered, his only family. He didn’t think about his parents anymore. They didn’t deserve it. Blaine, on the other hand… He tried to move closer to him to pull him into his arms one more time. Blaine surely didn’t even know what was happening around him but it was important for Cooper to have him in his arms one more time before he had to say goodbye. 

"No contact" said one of the men holding him.

"He’s my brother" he said quietly. "Let me hold him in my arms one more time. Please."

Then, suddenly, he was released. Cooper didn’t care how or why it happened, he crouched down beside Blaine’s still form and pulled him into his arms. Blaine was still breathing but he didn’t open his eyes. He probably couldn’t even hear him. At least he wouldn’t feel the pain… Cooper didn’t want him to suffer too much.

"It’s time."

Blaine was pulled out of his arms and Cooper reached out to get Blaine back, but the men from before were back and dragged him away from Blaine. He was pushed back, beside Sebastian, and now he was aware of the guns pointed right at them. So this was it. He was going to die.

"Stop."

He opened his eyes and looked around. He knew this voice...

"You won’t hurt these men."

Cooper frowned as an older man stepped out of the crowd and made his way towards them. He knew this guy. But how...

"Burt?" he whispered.

"Step back or you’ll die like them" the leader of the soldiers said.

"Nobody will die today" Burt said.

"If you think we’ll…"

Cooper gasped in surprise as Burt pulled out a gun and pointed it at the man.

"Release them" he said.

"Are you crazy?" the other man asked. "You won’t get out of here alive. You’re stupid if you think we’ll let it happen."

Burt looked around as he took a few steps closer. Now Cooper noticed that the other people moved closer to them as well. And now he realized that he knew these people. He had seen them all before.

"This has to end. Now" Burt said. "We let you go too far. We let you handle us like animals but it’ll end. We won’t let you hurt any of us anymore."

"These men have to die for their sins" the other man said seriously.

"What sins are you talking about?" Burt asked. "These men only wanted to help people get out of the hell you created. A place they didn’t belong. Don’t you see how stupid it is? Keeping people locked up, torturing and killing them… For what exactly?"

"Because they are sick" the man said.

"My son was imprisoned because he loves men" Burt said. "He isn’t sick. He isn’t dangerous for the community. He’s probably the most innocent person of the world. And what you did to him? You beat him up, you tortured him every possible way and you would have killed him if these people hadn’t been there to save him. And me."

Burt put down his gun and turned to the crowd. 

"I was brought to that place because I love my son and couldn’t watch him being taken away from me. I couldn’t live my life in fear, not knowing if I would see him ever again. So I went with him. Do you know what I saw? Families like ours. People who were no different than the rest of the community, people who were thrown into those cells because some idiot decided that it was the best for us. But we know how wrong they were. We have to stop this, now, here. We can’t let them destroy all of us."

"You’re not going anywhere with this" the soldier hissed.

"You think that I deserve to die because I love my son" Burt said. "Let’s see it with your eyes. You are bald. You deserve to die."

He lifted his arm and pointed his index finger right at the man.

"You were glasses" a woman said from the first raw as she pointed at another soldier. "You deserve to die."

"You have ginger hair" the man beside her said and pointed at another soldier. "You deserve to die."

The soldiers looked at their leader, seemingly scared of the crowd. They were outnumbered and the audience seemingly didn’t like any of them.

"You all deserve to be brought to those recovery camps and go through the hell we had to" Burt said. 

"We-we… That’s not…"

"You’re disgusting!"

"You’re criminals!"

"You have to die!"

Cooper watched with wide eyes as the soldiers, their weapons completely forgotten, took careful steps backwards.

"You took my wife away from me!"

"You tortured me!"

"You killed my daughter!"

"Calm down, all of you or…"

Cooper wanted to close his eyes because he knew that something horrible was coming but he just couldn’t. He watched as the man was grabbed by the angry members of the crowd, pulled down from the podium and got lost in the ocean of people. He heard him scream in pain for a while but his cries died eventually and only the angry roar remained.

The rest of the soldiers ran.

"Am I dreaming or are we really saved?" Sebastian muttered.

Cooper didn’t care about him. Now that the way was free, he ran to his brother and pulled him into his arms.

"Blaine, can you hear me?" he asked and carefully shook Blaine’s shoulder. Blaine didn’t move. "Blaine, we are saved! You have to wake up!"

Nothing.

"Blaine!" he shouted in desperation.

People gathered around them and Cooper did his best to push them away. He didn’t want anybody here. He wouldn’t let them take his brother away from him.

But then he suddenly stopped, as gentle hands reached out towards Blaine’s face. They didn’t try to take him from his arms. Those shaky hands reached out to caress Blaine’s pale cheeks and once Cooper heard the familiar voice, he knew that he didn’t have to be afraid of that person.

"Blaine, can you hear me?" Kurt asked quietly.

He was crying. Silently, hiding it so that only Cooper could see it, but Kurt was crying. Because he knew. Blaine had no chance to survive, he hadn’t gotten the help he needed when he still had had a chance and now it was too late. That was why Kurt couldn’t stop crying.

Cooper didn’t want to accept that, though. Blaine was still breathing, they could help him...

"Help is on the way" somebody told them. 

"Can you hear that, Blaine?" Kurt asked. "You will be saved. Just a little more time. Please. You have to stay with me."

That was what Blaine wanted. To be with Kurt one more time. He had told them so many times the previous night. Cooper slowly lay him down onto the ground and moved back to give Kurt more space. Blaine didn’t have much time left, he had to give him these remaining minutes to spend it with the boy he loved so much.

Kurt knelt beside Blaine and pulled him into his arms. He couldn’t hide his tears anymore or his heartbreaking sobs. He pulled Blaine close and held him tightly in his arms. Cooper wasn’t sure how long they stayed there like that. It seemed like years. Nothing seemed to change for a very-very long time, longer than it should have taken for the ambulance to get there. What if they had lied to them? What if they wouldn’t come to help Blaine?

It doesn’t matter, a little voice said in his head. It’s too late for him. It’s over.

Kurt’s sudden scream was enough to prove that. He pulled away from Blaine and repeated his name over and over again as he shook the still body, begging him to weak up, to come back to him. To hold on just a little longer until help arrived.

But Blaine didn’t come back. His still body remained like that, pale, covered in bruises and blood. Like those monsters had leaved him. Blaine couldn’t even see Kurt one more time. He was in such a horrible condition that he couldn’t see the boy before he died. Those monsters had taken everything away from him.

"Kurt, he’s gone."

His eyes landed on the boy next. Kurt was still holding Blaine in his arms. Poor Kurt. Blaine couldn’t tell him before he left that he loved him. He had to know. Maybe the pain would be easier to bear if he knew.

Cooper didn’t know what he was doing until he had Kurt in his arms. He had no idea how it happened but in one moment, he found the boy standing right beside him, crying with him. Yes, they were both crying. And people were talking to them, saying… Who cared? Nobody understood the pain they felt. Only the two of them understood it. They understood each other. So Cooper tightened his arms around Kurt and give in to his emotions. He was finally free to do so. That was what Kurt did, too. He was crying so hard that he could barely breath.

No wonder. With Blaine’s death, the world lost more than just a boy. It lost probably the best person ever living on their planet. Someone who had been strong enough to make difference. Someone who couldn’t be there to enjoy the fruit of his hard work.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone!  
> Here is the new and final chapter, there is only an epilogue left. Enjoy!

Demonstration at the White House

The recovery camps are closed down

Ministers all fired

Burt Hummel for the next president?

 

Kurt was pretty sure he was dying. He wasn’t sick or injured, it wasn’t what made him think like that. It was his broken heart that was killing him slowly. The previous months had been horrible. First the camp, then living in hiding, saying goodbye to Blaine after listening to those horrible lies the boy had told him… Kurt couldn’t believe Blaine had done that to him. 

Cooper had told him everything once they were finally able to talk and understand each other. It was a long process, Kurt had no idea when it happened, how much time after… It just made everything worse. Kurt had known deep inside that Blaine had only lied to him that night but hearing it from another person, knowing that he had been right and he still had let it happen… He deserved to die.

It didn’t help that the world finally changed in the right way. It looked like people finally gathered their courage to face their fears and say out loud that they had enough of the recovery camps and the government. Kurt should have been proud of his father. He was behind this after all, he had started the campaign that had turned into a huge and unstoppable movement that freed people from the recovery camps and it looked like the laws would be changed soon and they could be live like before this hell had started. They were free again. 

It had been surprising at first. It had happened behind his back, his father hadn’t told him anything until their first important move. It turned out that his father had stayed in touch with Jeff and Nick, as well as the other parents who had been involved and they had been working hard together to finally make people listen. His father had made such a good job, Kurt had had no idea what was going on in their house.

Not until that horrible night when he had seen Blaine arrested, led away in chains in a circle of soldiers. Then his father had finally revealed his secret because Kurt had been in panic and the whole family had been worried about him. They had tried to keep Kurt and Finn away from their group but the boys had been stubborn and convinced their parents in the end that they had to be there to help them. Their parents had had no choice, they had to accept the boys’ decision.

Kurt had thought that things could only turn better after that. They had been prepared and ready to fight after all, with the help of his old friends, they had had the information they needed. They had been there in time to save Blaine, Cooper and Sebastian from death and things should have become a lot better after that. But they had arrived late. Blaine had been already injured and dying and by the time Kurt had pushed himself through the crowd and reached him… No, he couldn’t think about that. Remembering Blaine in pain was a lot more than he could bear.

So he was here, back to the deepest depression possible, worse than what he had felt before. There was so much pain, pain that didn’t let him be for a second, that didn’t let him sleep or eat. Kurt didn’t even fight it anymore. Why should he? His life was already over...

"You’re doing this again."

Unfortunately, it looked like his family didn’t let him be, especially Finn who seemed to care about him a lot more than before. Maybe because their parents had to work a lot, Finn was always there around him and didn’t give him a single moment of peace. Like right now.

"Leave me alone, Finn" Kurt said with a heavy sigh.

"You skipped breakfast again" Finn said as he stepped into the room.

"I’m not hungry" Kurt said.

"You have to eat something" Finn said. "Mom made us scrambled eggs."

"I don’t want to eat" Kurt said. "Please, just leave me alone."

"But you should…"

"Finn, I told you. I want to be alone" Kurt said.

"Well, I won’t leave" Finn said stubbornly. "Enough of this, Kurt. You have to get up and move out a bit."

"I want to visit him today" Kurt said quietly.

"I’m not sure it’s a good idea" Finn said uncertainly. "Do you… want to do something with me? We could play something or…"

"I just want to see him" Kurt whispered.

Finn sighed as sat down beside Kurt. He tried really hard to have a good relationship with his stepbrother, even if Kurt pushed everyone away. The boy needed help for sure and Finn was here for him, even if Kurt didn’t want it.

"Let’s eat something, okay?" Finn said gently and quickly continued before Kurt had a chance to talk. "Just a little. Then we can go to see him."

"Fine" Kurt said in the end. "But then we’ll go to see him."

"Of course" Finn nodded.

~ o ~

Kurt hated being here. It was such a horrible place. It was too loud and too bright. Blaine deserved a much better place. He should be home, he should live his life, enjoy the world he had created… But he couldn’t leave his place, not anytime soon. If he could leave at all… Kurt gulped as he stepped into the small room and his eyes found the still form of his boyfriend in the bed. Nothing had changed since his last visit.

Weeks earlier, that horrible day, Blaine had died for a few minutes. He was seriously injured and his heart had stopped for a while, until help had arrived and they had managed to bring him back from death. Blaine had been taken to the hospital and had been through several surgeries. Now his condition was stable but he was still on the verge of death. He hadn’t woken up since being brought to the hospital and the doctors didn’t know if he would wake up at all. Or if he could live a normal life once he woke up. He had so many broken bones that it would be a miracle if he could walk on his feet again, not to mention his severe head injury. The doctor had been honest with them, Blaine had little chance to heal from his injuries. It was possible that he would never wake up.

Kurt sighed as he stepped to the boy, like every single day, and took a seat beside him. He felt responsible for Blaine’s condition. He had been weak, he had let Blaine send him away when he had needed him the most. And now he couldn’t even tell Blaine how he felt. He wished he could go back in time and change everything. He wished he could save Blaine. But it was too late for that. Maybe too late to change anything at all.

"Hey" he said quietly. "It’s me. I missed you."

As always, Blaine didn’t say anything. He couldn’t hear him. Kurt ran his fingers through Blaine’s hair and sighed again. Blaine looked so peaceful but Kurt knew how far from that he was. He was fighting for his life.

"How are you?" he asked. "Are you feeling better?"

Silence. Kurt tried to fight back his tears but he failed.

"Please, Blaine, wake up. I need you" he cried. "You have to wake up to see how the world has changed. You did it. You made those people listen and now my dad and the others are working on changing the laws. We are safe again. They won’t hurt us anymore."

But Blaine didn’t respond. He remained like that, lying motionless, barely breathing.

"I know it’s not that easy but it’s just the matter of time and we can have everything we ever wanted" Kurt continued. "Do you remember how we dreamed about it? Walking down the streets in New York, holding hands? We can have it. We can go on a date and nobody will hurt us. We can kiss each other. We can live together. We can have a future together."

Kurt listened to the beeping sound of the heart monitor. It was slow and steady like always.

"You have to come back" Kurt pleaded again. He did it every single day. He spent hours beside Blaine’s bed, begging for the other boy to come back. But it was pointless. Blaine couldn’t hear him. "Please, if you can hear me… Come back. Come back to me."

He stayed with Blaine for a few more hours, holding his hand, quietly talking to him. He still believed that Blaine could hear him and if he was ready, he would open his eyes. Nobody else believed in that, he could see in their eyes. They thought that he was crazy for believing that Blaine would ever wake up when he was in such a horrible condition. But he knew Blaine. He wouldn’t give up, not until he had a chance to come back. And Kurt believed that he was strong enough for that.

"I have to go" he said in the end. "I’ll be back in the morning. I promise."

He hesitated for a second before he leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to Blaine’s lips.

"I love you" he said. "I won’t give up on you. Take as much time as you need to recover. I’ll be here with you."

With one last glance at the boy, he stepped out of the room and closed the door, fighting back his tears.

As the door was closed behind Kurt, Blaine’s heartbeat sped up for a second. And then, after a few minutes, he moved his hand. It wasn’t much at first, nobody would have noticed it, but it still happened. Blaine was still for another few minutes but then his heartbeat became stronger again and with a soft moan, he opened his eyes.

~ o ~

Kurt was angry with his family. He wanted to visit Blaine in the next few days but his father made him so busy that he couldn’t go to the hospital. They knew how much he needed those hours with Blaine, why couldn’t they just let him be then? His father told him that they needed his help but it was insane. He managed on his own, he didn’t need anything from Kurt. He was an amazing leader and the other parents helped him a lot, not to mention those people who had joined them in the previous few weeks. There were a lot of people helping them and Kurt had other places to be, a lot more important things to do. Okay, Blaine was still in coma and he had Cooper and his other friends, but Kurt wanted to be there with him in case something happened. Even if not what he wanted… He just had to be there for Blaine. He had left him once when he should have supported him and he didn’t want to make that mistake again.

One morning, he woke up early, determined to leave the house before his father could come up with another excuse to hold him back and spend the whole day with Blaine. He decided to buy him flowers, get some food for himself, so he could be with Blaine a lot more and he didn’t have to leave until that evening. He wanted to sing Blaine that day. Blaine loved his voice and he felt strong enough for that. Maybe it would help… He had to try.

Sneaking out of the house was easy and he arrived at the hospital soon. He was lucky because their new home was so close to the hospital, he could reach it with a few minutes of walk. He bought the flowers and then walked up the familiar stairs, straight to Blaine’s floor. Then he stopped. Because there were a lot other people waiting outside Blaine’s room, mostly their friends. Kurt stopped immediately, dropping the flowers he had bought. He heard someone cry inside the room. It had to be Cooper. And if they were all here, it could only mean that...

"No" he whispered.

Nick noticed him first and when he saw how horrible Kurt looked, he quickly stepped to him and pulled him into his arms.

"Thank God you’re here" he said. "We tried to call you so many times."

"What-what happened?" Kurt asked shakily. "Is he…"

"He’s in there" Sebastian motioned towards the room.

Kurt would have rolled his eyes if he hadn’t been panicking. He visited Blaine every single day, he knew exactly where his room was.

"Is he…" he couldn’t say it out. He was so scared of losing Blaine that he couldn’t even think about it.

"I think you should see it with your own eyes" Jeff said.

They were smiling. Why were they so happy? There was nothing they should be happy for. Unless…

Kurt ran into the room without wasting any more time but he stopped immediately as his eyes landed on the two men inside. Cooper was sitting beside Blaine’s bed, holding his hand. It wasn’t too surprising to find him here, he spent as much time with his brother as possible, mostly when Kurt was here, too. That wasn’t what made Kurt stop but the boy lying in the bed. Because Blaine’s eyes were open. He was awake.

Kurt opened his mouth to say something. He had planned this so many times, he knew what he wanted to say, but now that he finally had a chance to talk to Blaine, he couldn’t form a single word. Blaine was awake. He was back, he was going to be fine, he would be okay… 

"Hey" Blaine said quietly. "You are here."

It had to be a dream. Things weren’t so simple, right? After weeks of fear and uncertainty, was it possible that Blaine was finally awake or was it just a cruel game his mind played with him? 

"Kurt? Are you okay?" Blaine asked in concern.

"I-I have to…"

Cooper was there to catch him before he collapsed. He caught him quickly and brought him to the chair beside the bed. 

"Deep breaths, okay?" Cooper said. "You won’t faint, right?"

Kurt wasn’t sure. After going through hell in the previous months, seeing Blaine awake and fine was just too overwhelming. He knew it was stupid. He should have been happy to see Blaine alright, pull him into his arms and tell him all those things he wanted to share with the other boy. But he still couldn’t say a word. He kept watching Blaine with wide eyes as if he didn’t believe that it was true. He was scared that it was just a dream and he would wake up soon, only to be alone in the darkness again.

"It’s not a dream" Blaine said. "I’m here, Kurt. And I won’t go anywhere."

Kurt still didn’t speak and it scared Blaine. He looked around in concern, waiting for his friends to come up with a solution.

"I need a coffee" Sebastian said in the end. 

"Me, too" Cooper said quickly.

"I don’t…"

"You too" Sebastian said quickly when Jeff didn’t understand what he wanted. He grabbed the boy as Cooper grabbed Nick’s hand and they dragged him out of the room to give Blaine and Kurt the privacy they needed.

Once the door was closed behind them, Blaine turned to Kurt. He took the boy’s hands into his and smiled at him.

"I’m glad you’re here" he said. "I missed you so much."

"How…"

"You" Blaine said. "You brought me back to life."

"But I didn’t do anything" Kurt muttered.

"I heard you" Blaine explained. "I heard everything you said. I heard you cry… I wanted to come back so badly but it was hard to find the way. But I did in the end."

Kurt started crying. It was so good to see Blaine awake but he was also worried about him. He knew that Blaine was badly injured and he was scared that he might lose him again.

"Hey, it’s okay" Blaine said.

"I watched you die" Kurt cried. "I-I was there and I couldn’t do anything. I begged you to come back but you couldn’t hear me…"

"Hey, don’t cry" Blaine said. "I’ll be fine."

That was a lie. Kurt knew that Blaine would never be the same again. Those monsters had ruined everything.

"Kurt, please, don’t cry. I won’t go anywhere. Not anymore" Blaine said seriously.

"But… The doctors said…"

Blaine sighed sadly as he looked down at his legs. He knew that, too. He still couldn’t feel his legs, so there was a chance that he wouldn’t be able to stand up ever again. He had cried a lot when he had woken up and the doctor had told him everything but he had thought a lot about it and now things seemed a lot better than first. His life wasn’t over. Even if he had to spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, he was alive and had a second chance to be with Kurt. That was all that mattered.

"The doctors don’t know anything" Blaine said. "I might be able to walk one day. But even if I won’t… Look, I had enough time to think about it and I accept it now. It’s not the end of the world, not anymore. Now that the world is changing, I can live a complete life, even if I don’t heal completely."

"I just…"

"Don’t… don’t you want me anymore?" Blaine asked in fear.

"Of course I do!" Kurt said quickly. "Blaine, I still love you and nothing can change that. I would never leave you for such a thing."

"Then what’s the problem?" Blaine asked.

"You deserve much better" Kurt said. "Those people… they had no right to do this to you."

Blaine sighed again. Life wasn’t fair but he didn’t want to think about the past anymore. Just the future.

"It’s over, Kurt" he said. "We survived. And now we have a chance for a better life. Together. If you want that, too."

He squeezed Kurt’s hands and waited until the boy looked into his eyes.

"Go out with me" he said.

"What?" Kurt asked in surprise.

"Once I get out of here" Blaine explained. "I would like to take you to a restaurant, have a nice dinner with you, I want to buy you flowers and tell you how amazing you look. I want to hold your hands and kiss you like I always wanted to. I want to give you everything we have ever planned."

"I want that, too" Kurt said. "I want everything with you."

"So you won’t leave me now that I…" Blaine glanced at his legs.

"You are stupid if you think I would leave you for this" Kurt said. "Or at all. I let that happen once but you won’t get rid of me again."

"So you…"

"So I’ll kiss you now" Kurt said.

He jumped up from his seat and leaned over Blaine to press his lips to Blaine’s. Blaine let go of his hands immediately and sneaked his arms around Kurt instead. It wasn’t too comfortable but they didn’t care. It didn’t matter. They were alive and they had a chance to be together the way they deserved. That was all that mattered.

"I love you" Blaine said. "I’m so sorry for lying to you. I just…"

"You love me, I know" Kurt smiled. "You are lucky, Anderson. Because I love you, too."

He lay down beside Blaine, careful not to hurt him and pulled him into another kiss. He needed to be as close to Blaine as possible. They had suffered so much. They had been living in fear for so long. They deserved this. They deserved to be happy.

And they both knew that they would be. There was nothing that could step between them anymore.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi Everyone!   
> Here is the epilogue, I hope you like it. I might add a few missing scenes later, though.   
> Thank you for reading and commenting this story!

5 years later

Kurt checked his reflexion in the mirror one more time before checking the time on his phone. They had to hurry if they didn’t want to be late. He glanced at his clothes and then finally left the bathroom to check on his husband.

He found Blaine in the living room, looking at the city through their huge window. He smiled as he quietly made his way to Blaine. The man loved sitting there, just watching the lights of the city at night or the first rays of the sun early in the morning. Sometimes Kurt joined him, too. It was a weird habit of Blaine, one of the many Kurt loved so much.

"Hey" he said as he stopped beside Blaine. "Are you ready?"

"Yes" Blaine nodded, his eyes still on the buildings in front of them.

"Is something wrong?" Kurt asked in concern.

Blaine took a deep breath and finally faced his husband. Kurt looked stunning, like always. It had been years since their first meeting but he still couldn’t take his eyes off of him. Kurt had grown into the most beautiful young man of the world and Blaine felt so lucky that he had him.

"Come here" he said.

He lifted his arms and waited for Kurt to climb into his lap. Kurt was always so careful when they did this. Although Blaine had told him so many times that he couldn’t feel it, so Kurt wouldn’t do any damage to his legs, Kurt always made sure he didn’t hurt his husband when he joined him in his wheelchair.

Blaine had had concerns when he had found out about his condition and it had become clear after months of therapy that he would never be able to stand on his feet again. He had been worried that Kurt wouldn’t be able to accept him like this but the man had surprised him. Kurt was the only person who never made him feel like a freak. He never watched him with pity, he never talked about how horrible it must have been for Blaine. He handled it as a natural thing and Blaine was so glad for that. That was all he needed. To be handled like any other person.

"We don’t have to go if you don’t want to" Kurt said after a while.

"I want to" Blaine said.

"Are you sure?" Kurt asked.

"This is about us and people like us" Blaine said. "We have to be there. We have to see it."

"You might be right" Kurt nodded.

The previous few years had been hard for them, not just because of Blaine’s fight for his health but also because of the changes they had been part of. Kurt had thought that Blaine didn’t want to hear about them after his almost-death but his husband wanted to be there every single day once he was strong enough to leave the hospital. He had worked together with Burt and the others for a better future. Something they finally had after so many years of fighting.

It hadn’t been easy. Most people accepted them easily, they had no problem with people like them, but there were those idiots, mostly those who had supported the government years earlier, people who thought only they had the right to live in this world and everybody else had to die. Luckily, there were always less of them. Burt was responsible for their campaigns and he did a great job. He remained calm, even in the worst moments when Blaine couldn’t have done the same and he handled those morons really well. Thanks to him, they had won a lot of supporters and changed the laws so that now they could live like everybody else. They were free and equals. Idiots would always exist in the world, they didn’t plan to turn them all to their side. They only wanted to live in peace.

"Are you ready?" Blaine asked.

Kurt took a deep breath and nodded. It was going to be hard for all of them but he felt ready. He wanted to be there.

"Let’s go then" Blaine said.

~ o ~

Kurt wasn’t surprised to find a huge crowd gathering at the podium. It was a big day after all, people wanted to be there to be part of it. There were all of their friends, Cooper, Carole and Finn, and Burt had to be there, too, although he couldn’t find his father yet. He had to be in the background with the others, getting ready for his speech.

"Hey, guys" Jeff said as he stepped to them to greet them. "You look amazing."

"Like always" Blaine smiled. "You don’t look bad either."

"Thanks" Jeff said.

"Are you ready?" Nick asked.

"Why is everyone asking this from us?" Kurt wondered.

"Because this is your big day" Nick said. 

"It’s a big day for all of us" Blaine corrected him.

"You are right, little bro" Cooper said as he went to his brother to hug him.

Kurt smiled as he watched his husband and his brother-in-law. Blaine had been devastated when Cooper had told him about their father’s behaviour. He had felt betrayed and cried a lot because of his stupid parents. He could move on in the end, with the help of Cooper who had showed Blaine that they were fine on their own and didn’t need their parents, especially not after that horrible day when John had left their sons on their own. It helped a lot more that the man had lost a lot of his business partners once ‘somebody’ had published a long article about John’s relationship to his sons. It had been enough to destroy him completely. Blaine had felt bad for him at first but seeing that his father would never change, he got over it relatively easily.

"We should start" Sebastian said impatiently. 

"We’ve just arrived" Blaine said.

"He has a date tonight" Jeff said.

"Oh" Kurt said in surprise.

"And I can’t be late. I really like the guy" Sebastian said.

"He’s in love" Jeff sighed.

"Maybe. It’s none of your business" Sebastian said and looked around, his eyes landing on Finn who was standing beside his mother. "Hey, Goliath! Help me get our friend up there."

"My name’s Finn" Finn muttered.

"It doesn’t matter. Help me with this" Sebastian said.

"Where’s dad?" Kurt asked as he turned to Carole.

"I’m gonna find him. Stay here with the boys. I don’t want them to cause any trouble" Carole said.

Kurt nodded in agreement. He loved his brother and Sebastian, too, but the two of them didn’t get along well. It was the best they could do to watch them in case they did something stupid.

"Come on, Blaine. Showtime" Sebastian said.

Kurt stayed close in case something went wrong but Sebastian and Finn lifted Blaine up easily, with quick practiced movements. It wasn’t the first time they helped their friend after all. They knew how to grab the wheelchair, so they could bring it up to the stage.

Kurt stepped beside Blaine on the podium. Their friends were all there, just as other people, but Blaine felt uncomfortable. Kurt could see in his eyes that he was scared, even if he tried to hide it so well. Blaine wasn’t the type who showed his emotions but Kurt knew him. Ever since the day he had almost died, Blaine was scared of the crowd. He still didn’t hide, he tried to deal with his fear on his own and whe he stepped onto the stage, nobody could see that something wasn’t right except for Kurt.

Kurt felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and turned around to greet his father, now standing beside him. Burt pulled him into a hug before he stepped to Blaine.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready" Blaine nodded.

Kurt stayed beside them as they stepped forward to greet the people who had come for the event. There were a lot of them, people they already knew and a lot others. Kurt smiled as he watched them. Years earlier, there had been a smaller crowd here, people who had joined their fight to stop the government and save their friends. Now there was a lot more of them, not to mention those who chose to watch the event from their homes. It was good to see that so many people supported them.

"Ladies and gentlemen" Burt started. "We are so glad you are here with us today. This is a special day for all of us."

"Five years ago, I died. Right here" Blaine said and stopped to take a deep, shaky breath. Kurt out a hand on his shoulder to give him support. Blaine smiled at him before he turned back to the crowd. "I thought that it was the end. I was caught and imprisoned with a few friends of mine and sentenced to death. I thought that there was no chance for us."

He looked at Kurt again and then to their friends.

"Weeks later, when I woke up from coma, I found myself in a different world. After long years of fighting and hiding, we finally reached what we wanted so badly. A better life."

"It’s been a long five years for all of us" Burt continued. "You were part of it or could see it in the news. We worked hard, with your help, to form a better future for ourselves and our children. We should celebrate our success and I’m sure we will. But the time isn’t right. Because there’s something more important we have to remember today."

Burt nodded towards the people standing beside something huge, covered in sheets. They pulled off the sheets quickly to show the memorial hidden under it. Kurt took a deep breath as he watched it. It was the right thing to do but it always saddened him as he thought about those people who couldn’t get out of those camps alive. That baby he had seen die. His friends he had lost. All those other people who couldn’t be saved in time.

"5347. So many people died in the recovery camps" Blaine said seriously. "Children, fathers, mothers, friends and neighbours. People who was tortured and killed for being different."

"Today we remember those who lost their lives is those camps. This monument should be a reminder of a dark time when innocent people were killed because of the wrong laws. We’ve been working hard to change our world and make it a better place. This monumental will remind us all what we left behind and what we should never allow to happen again" Burt said.

"We will always remember the victims of the recovery camps" Blaine said. 

He reached out to grab Kurt’s hand and his husband squeezed his hand tightly as they looked at the monumental. They had been so close to being victims of the previous system themselves, especially Blaine who had been very lucky to survive. But he was a fighter, Kurt reminded himself. His husband was the strongest person he knew and he felt so proud as he looked at him. It wasn’t the time to talk about it but they all knew how much Blaine had done for them. He had saved so many people from death and he had worked so hard with the others to change their world, even if he had had his own problems to deal with. 

"Are you alright?" Blaine asked as he looked at Kurt.

"Yes" Kurt nodded. "I’m so proud of you, Blaine."

"Seriously?" Blaine smiled.

"Of course. And it’s not just me. You saved a lot of us and I’m sure they won’t forget about that" Kurt said.

Blaine looked at the crowd in front of them. It had been so hard sometimes but it was absolutely worth it.

"I would do it again" he said. "If I could go back in time, knowing what would happen to me… I would still do it again."

"I know" Kurt nodded. "That’s why I love you so much."

Blaine took Kurt’s hand again and pulled him close. He didn’t forget that Kurt had done so much for him and others, too. They were both part of this. Just like the others around them. They had changed their world together.

"I love you, too, my sweet angel" Blaine said.

And he didn’t have to hide his feelings anymore. He was free to kiss Kurt, he was free to hold his hand, everything he had ever wanted. He was such a lucky person. He had his whole life, a lot of time to spend with Kurt and love him. That was exactly what he wanted to do. The world finally allowed them to be together the way they wanted to. Blaine was determined to do everything in his power to make their remaining time magical for both of them.


End file.
